A Disastrous New World for Saiki Kusuo
by Scatterscout
Summary: Having the power to do... basically anything is also incredibly annoying. Especially if you have to deal with the annoyances of life normally referred to as friends. Mind reading, pyrokinesis, teleportation, clairvoyance, and etc. It doesn't make life as easy as you might think. Especially when you end up in a world where everyone has their own power, or Semblance, they call it.
1. Chapter 1: I Didn't PSIgn Up for This!

**Note: I know that there probably aren't that many people on this website interested in reading Saiki Kusuo fanfiction, let alone a crossover made by a new author. Despite that, I hope those of you reading this would at least try the story and perhaps even leave a review.**

 **Without further ado, please enjoy A Disastrous New World for Saiki Kusuo!**

 **Underlines are used when characters talk in Japanese to characters that cannot understand it, but ignores their thoughts, since thoughts are universal... but more importantly, it doesn't look as nice.**

* * *

Saiki Kusuo is an esper/psychic/superpowered individual unbeknownst to everyone other than his own parents and a few individuals not of his own selection. However, even he could not predict this situation: being trapped in a bathroom stall. His psychic powers allowed him to understand people, humans, and any living creature of sentience, not that he wanted to but because it's only natural when you can read their every thought.

What this psychic certainly didn't understand is how more than one individual can come up with reasons to try and spend time with him at the exact same time. Last time this happened, he got caught by Toritsuka whilst he was invisible and was forced to decline social invitations. That had singlehandedly been one of the most incredibly annoying experience in memory, not to mention a complete waste of time. This time, Toritsuka is also looking for him, so if Saiki were to walk into his line of sight, it would be an instant game over. Curse his stupid spirit medium powers. Being able to see ghosts should not include being able to see his invisible self.

Why was he looking for Saiki? He had finally caught on that Teruhashi, along with an unhealthy [for Saiki] number of girls, were 'friendly' with the esper and wanted tips. He would also probably resort to begging, Saiki didn't put it past that purple-haired piece of trash. So as usual, a dumb reason for an even dumber person. It could almost be described that the stealth game's difficulty changed into hard mode, but the bad ending from last time is easier to avoid this time around. He could tell where the game over was.

Wait, no. Never mind, it's in deadly difficulty. Toritsuka is being a dirty camper in front of his shoe locker, so invisibility wouldn't work anymore. This has to be one of the only times that the locker he's stalking isn't in the girls' changing room.

' _Fine, I'll have to apport them later. A few books replacing them in my shoe locker shouldn't be too suspicious.'_ Saiki sighed in annoyance, leaning forward onto his knees in the process. Saiki, upon contemplation of other possible responses to the past situation, realized he was stupid for not trying that earlier.

The problem now was getting his bag back from the classroom. There's enough in the bag to make it difficult to replace with only a singular object that was relatively small at home. Otherwise, it would also be odd when his bag is replaced by something else in front of three of his classmates, all actively looking for him and casting constant glances towards his desk.

Why were they doing this? Well, it's not like Saiki didn't know but it would just be easier to show you what happened in the classroom a few minutes prior to the introductory paragraph:

"Where is Saiki?! He's already been gone for twenty minutes past the bell! I need him here to help me initiate Plan Flamecross to finally bring out members from the dark recesses of Dark Reunion!" Kaidou Shun questioned, all the while biting at his fingernails. At the pace he was going, Kaidou's nails would become just as tattered as his school uniform.

And yes, none of what he is saying makes sense. Kaidou was an annoying chuunibyou, calling himself a hero named "The Jet-Black Wing."

Saiki did not even have to make a comment for you to understand how stupid the entire thing was.

"Flamewhat?! Hey, shrimp, is that a new ramen place? We should go when my buddy gets here!" Nendou Riki ignorantly offered. Well, it would be ignorant, but he's Nendou, the most stupid person on the planet. So stupid, in fact, that Saiki could not even read his thoughts. After all, they were non-existent.

Paired with his off-putting, ugly, delinquent appearance that couldn't be described other than just saying to Google it, Nendou's stupidity helped cement him as unpopular, disgusting, and violent. Other than that final label, the descriptions were mostly true.

Which is why Saiki absolutely hated the fact that he kept trying to 'buddy' up with him. Saiki couldn't predict him, and didn't want to get to know Nendou enough to be able to without his telepathy. That only made it more unfortunate when Saiki knew that Nendou was probably the peer that he had spent the most time with.

And that chuunibyou and that idiot constantly forced themselves on Saiki under the pretense of friendship. Kaidou, at the very least, was semi-competent. That's probably why he would deny how well he got along with Nendou with Saiki as a middle man. No one would want to admit that.

"Ramen?! You're an idiot!" Kaidou yelled what everyone already knew. "Plan Flamecross is the ultimatum issue that Saiki and I plan to finally…"

Kaidou's voice drifted away into nothingness, his face becoming slightly red as he watched the classroom door slide open amidst his explanation. While in most cases, Kaidou would continue spouting his nonsense, there were a few select individuals that brought out actual embarrassment if he kept talking.

Those would be his parents, his sister (not his brother), the parents of his friends, and Teruhashi Kokomi.

Although, that last one would probably bring about embarrassment even in normal people.

By all means, Teruhashi Kokomi was an incredibly pretty girl. She could easily be scouted for idol companies, work in programs that her celebrity brother was involved in, and get paid for fashion magazine pictures on a daily basis, if she had actually wanted to. Her beauty was enough to attract the richest people in the country to her fan club, and in one instance, transfer schools specifically with the intent to marry her. However, Teruhashi wasn't a stereotypical pretty girl, and she knew that she was beautiful. But instead of abusing it, she would act as an incredibly nice girl would. That made everyone think she was just as pretty on the inside as on the outside. Even fish were attracted to her radiance.

Teruhashi attracted the attention of all those around her. Which is why Saiki despised the series of misfortunate events that caused her to fall in dumb love with him, a man who only wanted to be in the background. While Saiki didn't like to admit it, that love did keep her grounded in some semblance in reality and on a few occasions, away from taking part in acts that would be unbecoming of her. The rest of the time, she was one of the biggest threats, if not the greatest, to Saiki's pursuit of a normal life.

"O-ofu! Teruhashi-san!" Kaidou and Nendou both sputtered, in one of their rare moments of unison that were only brought out by her appearance. This would probably be a good time to mention that anyone who laid eyes upon her physically sparkling special effect aura would utter "Ofu," in reaction.

Teruhashi's eyes, without any indication due to practice, took notice of Saiki's bag still hanging on his seat. Addressing the stunned idiots while closing the door behind her, she asked in a faked shy voice, "Would you two happen to know where Saiki is? I was hoping to speak with his mother later today…"

"S-Saiki?" Kaidou repeated, blush enveloping his face. While Nendou shook his head beside him, Kaidou shared, "No, he still hasn't come back from the teacher's office yet."

While she didn't even show an inkling of it, Teruhashi was annoyed. That didn't stop her from taking a seat, and begin silently studying while waiting. Kaidou would have offered to search, but Nendou had started up the talks again.

Earlier, Saiki had watched Teruhashi try to find him earlier when she went towards the teacher's office. If he wasn't stuck in the school for the time being, Saiki would've taken that chance to leave.

If you're wondering about his school bag, Saiki got careless for a moment and didn't bring it when he was called to the teacher's office. The teachers got confused why Saiki seldom got more difficult versions of a question right and the easier versions wrong. Unfortunately, Saiki made that mistake on two of the first tests, and out of fear, decided not to immediately change his way of answering to avoid suspicions. However, it seems he took too long, leading to this chain of events.

At the very least, Saiki knew that Toritsuka couldn't be in multiple places at once. Saiki doubted his ghosts would be willing to spy on Saiki for him either. Kaidou, Nendou, and Teruhashi would all certainly be considerably better in his eyes if they weren't in the classroom specifically awaiting his return, but that likeability couldn't really be helped at this point.

There were other annoyances called his classmates, but they had other things befitting their stereotypes to attend to.

Hairo, the sports stereotype went on a training mission in the mountains. He was thinking of bringing Saiki, but Saiki made sure to implement thoughts into his head otherwise. Yumehara, the romance comedy stereotype, was taking diet cooking courses. Mera, the incredibly poor person stereotype that had long ago been taken too far, had her part-time jobs…wait, she doesn't bother Saiki anyways. Takahashi doesn't exist.

Saiko Metori, the pompous rich guy stereotype, was attending a charity reception, and it's not like he would invite Saiki anywhere. Aiura Mikoto, the inherently good person stereotype and another psychic like Toristuka that knew of Saiki's real powers, was dragged off by Rifuta Imu because Aiura was seen talking normally around Teruhashi…albeit a bit confrontational. Rifuta didn't particularly fit a stereotype, as she was basically a more manipulative underclassman version of Teruhashi. She was also heralded as the second prettiest girl in every situation.

Luckily for him, Nendou and Kaidou were talking with one another so the most difficult element to track would be accounted for. After taking a minute to turn invisible, Saiki unwilling to waste two hours to transform his entire appearance, he began walking towards the classroom.

"Say, shrimp, why do you always carry around an extra notebook anyway? You have dirty pictures in there or somethin'?" Nendou asked upon finding the notebook while he was shuffling through Kaidou's desk when he wasn't paying attention.

"H-how can you even say that near Teruhashi-san?" Kaidou's eyes averted for a second to Teruhashi, who was trying to ignore the conversation, and do some studying to help make her appear as a perfect girl. "Why don't you buzz off? Like those dumb flies attracted to your head! Did you even take a shower?!"

Unfortunately, since Nendou is stupid, he ignored Kaidou's attempt to change the subject away from his chuunibyou notebook. "Just let me see the notebook already!"

 _'Alright, now seems to be a good time._ ' Saiki was standing outside the doorway to the classroom, preparing to simply jump out the window with his bag. It would be difficult to explain how he got the bag back to the three witnesses, but he could always avoid it by feigning ignorance. If Saiki was lucky, before he entered the room, he could instigate a fight between Kaidou and Nendou and the bag would disappear in the confusion. No doubt Teruhashi's attention would be divided then.

And then the door swung open violently and Nendou slapped wildly at the air at light speed. "Stupid flies!"

Saiki would normally make a comment that there was no reason for Nendou's actions, but currently he had worse issues. Both of his power control devices were knocked away by Nendou, and Saiki was unable to react in time to catch them in mid-flight and put them back on.

 _'Shit!_ ' When one control device was knocked away by Nendou in the past, Saiki lost consciousness. When he takes one off himself, he can prepare himself and hold together the power until replacement. Losing two suddenly at once, would easily make him lose consciousness.

In a split second, Saiki used astral projection to split control over his body. Unfortunately, due to the speed at which he did this, he only had control of his body from under his stomach. To avoid too much suspicion, he kneeled his newly visible body downwards. When Nendou made contact, the invisibility was dispelled.

"Oh, hey there buddy!" Nendou exclaimed.

Saiki couldn't respond, as the upper half of his body was currently unconscious, and his mind was overwhelmed by how much he was thinking. It would be difficult to explain how the control devices would fly towards Saiki at breakneck speeds but he couldn't risk… well, whatever would happen when his control devices were out. After all, in his new game, the world can explode if he was too stressed. He couldn't discredit any possibility at this point. Plus, he would only need to explain to Nendou who seems to have a rock for a brain anyways.

Saiki motioned his astral projection's hand over to his control devices and telekinetically thrusted them towards his body. Even if the power was too strong, Saiki's naturally psychic enhanced body should be able to take damage from them fine enough. 'Should be' being the operative phrase here.

Immediately replacing the one that he slammed against his leg on the right side of his head, Saiki watched as the other control device, due to the uncontrolled force he used to telekinetically rush it towards him, caused its direction to severely curveball. Saiki placed the rest of his astral projection back into his body to regain full control, or at least enough to move. After unsteadily getting up, Saiki turned to the other control device which lodged itself into a red brick wall.

 _'Wait. Brick wall. I must've teleported somewhere else.'_ Saiki thought to himself, but before questioning further, immediately ran over and replaced the other control device onto the left side of his head. Taking a look around, Saiki realized he was in a dingy back alley of an unrecognizable city. He didn't remember any place in Tokyo in recent memory that had this shade of red bricks so Saiki assumed he had just teleported himself out of his panic during his uncontrolled state.

Before he prepared himself to teleport back, Saiki realized he had temporarily lost his ability to read minds. How did he realize this? Because in that very instant, he regained his mind-reading ability and the thoughts of those around him poured into his mind. And they were all very similar.

 _'What was that immense power?!' 'I-I just got overwhelmed by something…' 'Something really strong just…I…' 'What is this aura?!' 'Is this somebody's Semblance?' 'I can't stand…what just happened?' 'I-is there a Grimm somewhere in the city?!'_

 _'Wait, some of those thoughts were odd. Wait, ignoring that, the problem is that everyone felt my psychic power. Even if unpredictable, that shouldn't happen… let alone to that extent.'_ Saiki thought in response to the flood of thoughts before imagining his bedroom. His bag was the least of his worries at this point, he needed to leave before people took notice.

 _'T-the aura's gone?' 'I need to go check that out!' 'It was in this direction, right?' 'Should I go get some huntsmen?'_

 _'English, huh? Accent sounds American-like. West Coast probably, then.'_ Saiki thought as people's thoughts kept flowing into his conscious. He prepared to teleport straight home, and closed his eyes to focus. Saiki imagined being in his bedroom, but when he opened his eyes, he was still in the same exact alley.

 _'Shit. Still don't have that much control, huh. I don't have time for this.'_ Saiki cursed under his breath, as he could tell oncoming bystanders had already recovered enough and were approaching, Saiki looked straight up. Getting an idea of what the roof of the building in front of him looked like, he teleported to avoid the oncoming foot traffic.

The short range teleportation was easy enough to pull off, and Saiki began bracing himself. With his powers being difficult to control, he ended up teleporting a good 50 meters above the roof and was falling down stomach facing the ground. While he could normally fly and land safely, Saiki's small teleport left him with no feeling left in any of his muscles and his powers were not responding. It was a bit fortunate that through his out-of-control powers, he started falling at terminal velocity immediately. This way, people might not be able to look up in time.

 _'Dammit, this better not make too much noise.'_ Saiki thought, not caring enough for his wellbeing as his body's natural strength would easily be able to take a fall from that height. Even if he had teleported to outer space, at normal psychic capacity, it would be doubtful that any real damage would occur.

In the few moments while he was still in free fall, Saiki received more thoughts which put him into an even more distressing situation. Each thought of those that made visual contact into the alley were all virtually the same, and of course, someone decided to blurt it aloud.

"There's a bunch of kids over here! Someone get help!"

At the very least, the yelling disguised the crashing noise of Saiki's face implanting itself into the ceiling.

'Why don't you get it then and not yell it?!' Saiki thought, head throbbing upon the crash, not enough psychic protection to close a bloody forehead wound. Additionally, his entire body was currently facing down into the ceiling, and while Saiki could feel himself gradually regaining the ability to move his body once again, he was unable to move enough to turn his face away from the ground. At least his green-tinted glasses seemed to be intact.

More importantly, there were four unconscious kids in the alleyway he was just in. Saiki had a sneaking suspicion of who they were, but still hoped that they were kids from other anime that just happened to crossover with this world as well. Actually, no wait, four Narutos would be annoying.

The voices began speaking their thoughts again.

"Are these guys the source of the aura?"

"Are they really that powerful?!"

"That's not the important thing right, now! We should take them to the hospital! One's already bleeding!"

 _'Don't worry about that bleeding, that bloody nose probably reopened from earlier.'_ Saiki thought after ensuring they weren't talking about him, but a purple-haired kid, that probably goes by the name Toritsuka.

"They're waking up! Shouldn't we get a huntsman or something?"

 _'A huntsman? Military society with people following those with guns? That explains why their thoughts seem to be like sheep._ ' Saiki thought, normally not having angry thoughts of this level but it was a stressful situation he was face-down in. Well, he did finally gain enough muscular control to move his face away from the ground but the point still stands. Unfortunately, he had no feeling of relief as his suspicions of the mysterious four were confirmed.

"D-Did Dark Reunion just knock me out? Is it actually coming true?" Kaidou Shun thought aloud, as he supported himself against the wall. Achieving a similar thought process as Saiki upon seeing bricks, "Teleportation, huh? No one else needs to get hurt then."

 _'Well, your ego is going to hurt when you realize people can hear you. Also, how were you the first one to get up, anyway?!'_

"H-hey, are you alright? What's dark reunion?" Saiki assumed a bystander had actually approached Kaidou. 'Dark Reunion' was probably the only words he recognized anyway, no one seemed to recognize Japanese.

"Aaahhhh!" Kaidou yelped. Saiki could feel his embarrassment from the roof. Although, he did suppose it would probably be surprising to hear English next to you all of a sudden.

 _'Should I help translate? Wait, no. I can't be sure I have control over that ability yet, and if in the future, I'm not around and there's no translation, they might suspect something. Kaidou, you're on your own. Do you actually have enough chuunibyou knowledge to understand enough English other than 'Dark', 'Reunion', or 'Judgement Knights of Thunder'?'_ Saiki thought out in an instant.

"I have friends!" Kaidou blurted out in an embarrassed panic.

 _'Why is that the first thing you say?! Are you that insecure?! And it was in English!'_

"Ummm, yeah? Are they alright?" The bystander probably motioned, or at least looked behind Kaidou, Saiki assumed. At the very least, they weren't outwardly laughing at Kaidou's antics.

' _What?! Teruhashi-san? Transfer student? And he's bleeding!'_ Kaidou's thoughts exclaimed as if he were a main character explaining his motley crew of compatriots. At least he didn't say it aloud.

 _'No, that's just a nose bleed.'_ Saiki re-iterated.

 _'He's bleeding from his head! That looks serious!'_ Kaidou thought further.

 _'No, that was from when he was caught and beat up.'_

"Are you okay?!" Kaidou rushed over…to someone, Saiki couldn't tell- oh no, wait, it was Teruhashi. His thoughts became coherent enough to tell that much.

"Umm, what is diejoeboo? Is that her name?" The ignorant…well, confused bystander asked, probably repeating the only bit of Japanese he heard with a butchered pronunciation and written in crap Romaji. Wait, no, only the readers can see that… good thing this is the author saying Saiki's thoughts in text form rather than only Saiki's thoughts as it normally is.

 _'Hmm? Someone important is coming. Police? No. They actually brought a hunter. Wait, huntress?_ ' Saiki thought. It should probably be mentioned that Saiki fully learned English, and knows basic speaking level of other languages simply because he figured he should learn it one day. Certainly helps in cases where he might need to translate, this not being one of them.

Saiki, around the same time people began reacting to the huntress, attempted to stand. Fatigue, however, finally caught up from losing both limiters at once and he passed out on the ceiling. When he looked back at this moment, Saiki was surprised it hadn't already happened.

\- Ψ-

Saiki's eyes shot open. His dark purple pupils readjusted themselves to the newly darkened world.

 _'Oops. How long was I asleep for?'_ Saiki thought as he picked himself off of the ground, instantly dusting his mint green student uniform off with his psychic power.

 _'Hmm. At least I've regained control over my powers. My movements don't seem particularly hindered either.'_ Saiki confirmed by doing simple jumps and practicing the alphabet of sign language. Saiki never really needed to use sign language but going over the symbols provided a simple focus exercise which was useful in cases such as this.

 _'Considering it was late day when I first teleported here, I guess that…'_ Saiki's thought was interrupted when he look up into the night sky to get an idea of what time it was. Saiki was certainly surprised when part of the moon was blown off, with shattered remnants floating near the space they used to occupy. _'Oh great. Did I have another accident and blow up the moon…again? The limiters should've prevented that but I can't be certain when both of them were taken out at the same time.'_

 _'Oh well. I'll just have to go fix it…'_ Saiki's thought trailed off when none of the thoughts pouring into his head were about the cracked moon in the sky. Did no one notice yet? Or… is there a reason not to care? Walking over to the edge of the roof, he looked towards a random black-haired individual in a suit. So far, a normal everyday individual in a normal post-work situation.

 _'He's coming back from work, it seems like. Alright, hope you don't mind taking a few moments to admire the sky.'_

Saiki planted the thought of 'I should look at the moon.' into the man's head. Since the guy seemed tired, Saiki assumed he wouldn't question his thoughts very much. Watching as the man turned his head to stare at the moon only to blink a few times and return on his merry way with slight confusion plaguing his thoughts now, Saiki made a surprised note of his observations.

 _'Alright I doubt I was knocked out that long but just to make sure…'_ Saiki walked back to his initial landing site and restored it back to the state it was in a day ago. Silently praying there wasn't that much movement of furniture inside the actual building that day that would be affected by the restoration as well, Saiki watched as the slight cracks on the roof made from his harsh landing disappeared. As his repair ability only rewound time a full day, it confirmed his hypothesis.

 _'It's unlikely no one would be thinking about the shattered moon if it had happened within the day. Unless I mind controlled everyone during my unconscious state as well. I doubt that level of coordination would happen however due to the random nature of my powers when uncontrolled.'_ Saiki sighed.

 _'There's also the issue all of these people.'_ Saiki looked down onto the nighttime street crowds. Well, not much of a crowd compared to similarly large districts in Tokyo. _'While bunny and cat ears are certainly not anything new, the fact that people are casually walking around with things from crocodile tails to rhino horns that seem to properly move bothers me.'_

Focusing his vision, Saiki also saw the faint amount of power, not unlike something he or Aiura might have if they weren't suppressing their abilities, which radiated from almost every individual like an aura. _I'm definitely not in Japan. I thought I was in America due to people's accents and dialogue but that doesn't seem to be the case either. There are no noticeably fancy skyscrapers on the horizon.'_

 _'This architecture also clouds the issue of where I am. It's clearly both futuristic and ancient at the same time. With obvious building techniques being advanced but the materials themselves lacking the modern appearance. But there's nowhere in my mental record of literally every inhabited country that matched this building style. There are clear hints of a militaristic society present in the buildings themselves, so it should be in my record…'_

 _'I'll try to go back home. I still need to get the others from this place but I should check if I can even return at all since it hadn't worked earlier.'_ Saiki thought. _'Since I should be back in shape, teleporting to my room would be possible no matter where I was on Earth.'_

Saiki refocused his mind on his bedroom and imagined his desk, and landing into his chair. However, Saiki's attempt to teleport was still thwarted, as he kept finding himself back on the same roof.

 _'Tch. Teleportation still doesn't work. If I'm really not on Earth, that leaves a few possibilities. Another world, another timeline, a possible future, another dimension, and an alternate universe. Until I narrow it down to one of those, I probably shouldn't try anything drastic or else I may end up in an even worse situation. Now then, I suppose it's time to find the idiots.'_

Saiki crossed his eyes to begin a search using his clairvoyance. After a check on each particular building of importance, he had to blink to reset since crossing your eyes after a while gets tiring. Having to cross his eyes to use clairvoyance at least made sure it didn't happen accidently, although it did make him look stupid. However, it was difficult to search via clairvoyance, since it was only instant if he saw a place before, otherwise he would have to manually control his clairvoyance path.

Saiki couldn't find his classmates, or anyone still reeling upon seeing Teruhashi. He did stumble across some interesting things though. Protest groups for something called a faunus, people holding out flyers, and huge mechs guarding entrances. The lattermost being the most exemplary. _'Definitely not Earth.'_

 _'Guess it's only natural that they covered plenty of ground during the time I was unconscious. What a pain.'_ Saiki walked over to the edge of the roof overlooking the alley he initially found himself. While he planned to float himself down, Saiki found that the alleyway had been closed off by guards. It surprised him.

The reason it surprised him at all was because the guards didn't have any thoughts. A mere glance could reveal why. They were all robots, much more small than the mechs he observed before. Their entire bodies were metallic, with dark grey metallic plates and red lights covering its body. If he was a normal high schooler, Saiki might have described them as creepy.

 _'Robots, huh. Humanoid as well. Well I can't read your minds for information but your owner, or at least your manufacturer, should be on you somewhere…'_ Saiki searched through the entire structure using his automatic x-ray vision but unfortunately it seemed like not many people wanted to take credit for the robot soldier. All he could find was its model, "AK-130", and a thing that took clairvoyance to get a proper look inside what Saiki assumed what its power generator.

Powered by the Schnee Dust Company.

While it was far from learning his classmates' location, it's not like he had anything else to go off of. Since Saiki had been unconscious for a while, it wasn't like he was tired at the moment, so he should be able to search through the night.

 _'Alright. Time to get started.'_


	2. Chapter 2: ReconnaPSInce

**Note: Concerning Saiki's powers and even his personality, there is going to be some flexibility, since even the mangaka sometimes forgets its own pre-established rules or previous instances. So don't be worried if there's something that goes against something that you remember.**

 **Also, Saiki makes comments about his own manga and the author sometimes, but they are mostly just off-hand remarks. Just like with the story, fourth wall breaks will not be a definitive element of this story like it might be with Deadpool or Gintama and are just ways to help describe the information.**

 **On that small note, with me forgetting the other thing I wanted to mention, please enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

It didn't take a very long time to find the Schnee Dust Company. Outside of the fact that there were a number of buildings labeled with the name, the actual headquarters was a fairly massive building. It also did double duty by acting as a home to the company president's family. However, Saiki was doing more than just searching for this place. By the time he finished, it was already past noon of the next day.

Firstly, he managed to cross out the 'possible future' option off the list. The 'alternate timeline' theory also took a hit at the same time when Saiki researched the history of the world. The constant reminder that we were born from dust seemed off-putting to say the least. Secondly, the world itself wasn't called Earth, but Remnant, and while Saiki questioned that naming scheme, he did know that Earth was named after dirt anyway. Saiki was also currently in a country called Atlas, the world housing with a total of four livable continents, but only a small fraction of each continent was properly inhabitable.

Finally, Saiki discovered that the internet still existed, and a smartphone equivalent did as well. While he didn't have any 'lien' to actually buy one of these 'scrolls', Saiki simply gathered the lien dropped on the ground together to try and compensate. Unfortunately, people here seemed to be smarter with their money than on Earth and the amount he gathered was still short of paying the full price.

However, being stuck in another world should be enough of a cause to underpay for one of these scrolls. Saiki could also pay for it at any other time when he had the remaining lien, if that ever happened. He also took a pair of sneakers to replace his school shoes. They didn't need to get any dirtier. Additionally, he bought a tool to use for memory erasing. While that ability could erase a minute at most, it should still be immensely useful.

The scroll definitely helped information gathering, if not just to learn about where things were and the laws of the world. Those huntsmen and huntresses from earlier acted as elite soldiers for this world to protect against some kind of force named the Grimm. There were also a school in each of the four main cities to train upcoming huntsmen.

This fact annoyed him to no end. Reason 1: It was like he was in a manga story. Reason 2: If he found himself in a situation where he would need to fight, it would be hard to control his powers to not be thrusted into the position of a main character. Reason 3: Kaidou was here. There is no doubt that he would try to get into one of these schools even if he's not strong at all. Reason 4: This has nothing to do with the other reasons, but Saiki kept getting headaches the entire day.

That's everything that led up to this particular moment standing far from the Schnee home. There were guards all around the place and the estate itself was humongous. One thing that Saiki was glad for was that a majority of the robot guards were in the inner areas. Human guards still outnumbered them luckily. It seems the robots were unreliable in combat, but robots were harder to detect for Saiki since he couldn't sense the robot's presence at all.

For the last couple of minutes, Saiki had been squatting on a particularly solid branch, using clairvoyance to scout out the entire estate.

It seemed like God honestly hated him. If he actually believed in one, Saiki knew they wouldn't ever be on his side.

There seemed to be an important discussion inside but that room wasn't in his 200 meter radius to read their minds, and lip reading was doing poorly due to the number of terms he didn't know as well as how differently Japanese and English people pronounce English.

There wasn't actually any place to get closer to, since every single room and space was being watched by someone or something in a larger radius that 200 meters either way. These people seriously have too much money to spend.

 _'I could always teleport into a closet.'_ Saiki thought, once again annoyed that he would need to teleport into a cramped space. Remembering where the bedrooms were, as the closets for furniture and vases were too full to risk teleporting into, and a clothing closet would likely be needed.

The problem would be if those in the connecting rooms would notice, so first he determined which of those rooms had the least number of people in it. The winner being 1.

Toritsuka would probably have enjoyed having to teleport into a closet. If it belonged to a girl like this one, that is. Saiki could care less, and needed to find that idiot either way.

Teleporting into a dark closet, Saiki readjusted himself to the number of people that thoughts would flood into his head and needed to pinpoint the conversation he observed earlier.

Oh. God really did hate him.

An alarm had sounded throughout the mansion, alerting the presence of an unregistered ability signature on the premises. The thoughts were all identical as well, attempting to find the source of the disturbance. Well, other than those that needed to prioritize something else. Such as the woman that was in the room connecting to the closet he was currently in.

 _'I should get changed, then.'_ came from outside the closet door.

 _'Screw you, God.'_

\- Ψ-

 _'Alright, I can't teleport out of this closet for at least three minutes. It will take her around 8 seconds to reach the closet and open it. For a huge mansion, why are their closets of all things so small? To limit how much clothes they buy?!'_ Saiki quickly calculated in his head. He inwardly wished he had also mind controlled this world to have the excessive amount of time to think in crucial moments.

The closet door was opened to reveal a woman, slightly taller than Saiki, with snow-white hair tied into a bun behind her hair, but still retained bangs on the right side of her face. She was currently only garbed in light grey undergarments. She walked into the closet and shuffled her hand between two dresses to pull out a more professional uniform.

Currently, Saiki twisted his body into the small nook between the clothes' hangers and the ceiling, being careful to maintain his balance and focus. Saiki was good at hiding his presence but it would do him naught if he got seen before a minute had passed. After that, his invisibility should keep him safe.

Until then, all Saiki could do was wait as he become slowly more transparent. Invisibility was a useful power, but it also puts his powers into a state of stasis. While his telepathy wasn't cancelled, Saiki couldn't use telekinesis, gravitational manipulation, teleportation, and etc. while under the effects of invisibility.

On top of taking a minute to actually turn invisible, and being unable to stop its reversal after 10 minutes, the biggest weak point was that it was undone if someone touched him. But in situations like this, it was a useful power.

However, it is extremely difficult to avoid someone touching you and not touch anything that could alert a presence while in a cramped closet.

Oh, and Saiki could also care less about the half-naked woman changing in front of him as he got used to seeing naked bodies with the inability to stop using his X-ray vision, and it would always go past their clothes, then their skin, then their muscles, all without Saiki's interference. All he could do was blink and reset it. Although that automatic X-ray vision is also cancelled with invisibility, it still didn't matter.

The woman turned around suddenly, at the very moment Saiki's invisibility completed. That minute passed much quicker than he expected, but now he was stuck here for an entire ten minutes. Considering his grip was beginning to weaken and levitation was impossible, Saiki really wanted to get out of this situation.

 _'First, those kids yesterday, and now an intruder…something seems to want to make my life a little more difficult.'_

Okay, he needs to get out of this after a little interrogation session.

 _'Your life is probably not as bad as mine… make that a definite. But I suppose this does make things a bit easier.'_ Saiki thought. "Those kids" might have referred to anyone, but Saiki understood that it probably meant his classmates. He had recognized her voice, well inner voice, people don't always think in the same voice they speak in as some people believe. Half of the time, they sound different to their physical voices, difference in what they hear and what others do.

As for this inner voice, Saiki recognized it as the 'huntress' from yesterday. Saiki thought it was another lucky coincidence even in an abysmally unlucky situation. He certainly didn't expect them to detect his-

 _'T-they're over here!'_ came a thought near the outside of Saiki's radius. Saiki once again lamented God.

 _'Seriously, the alarm wasn't me? Does God expect one coincidence to balance another? Because it doesn't.'_ Saiki inwardly complained _. 'Anyways, I need to implant a question into her thoughts to find those morons.'_

Unlike the man yesterday, Saiki couldn't simply implant the question directly. Saiki learned that the descriptions of 'huntsmen' made them out to be elite soldiers aware of what to do in nearly any situation. An aware, especially a trained combatant who might have had experience with mental manipulation, would question their own thoughts. Therefore, Saiki needed to bridge her own thoughts, rather than a direct Q&A, it had to be a thought that might lead into the answer while not being conspicuous enough to notice. And considering the huntress found the kids as a nuisance if tone of thought was any indicator, and the fact they weren't currently on the premises…

 ** _'I'm glad those kids are gone now._** _I don't exactly know what Ozpin wanted with them, but General Ironwood seemed supportive enough of his decision.'_

 _'Ozpin, huh. I remember hearing that name somewhere. Should I dig further? No, I should just get out-_ ' Saiki's thought was interrupted as he experienced both a migraine and a vision.

\- Ψ-

There was no sound. Saiki couldn't even hear his own feet echo from the white tiles of the hallway. Portraits hung along the wall, picturing the Schnee family and beautiful scenery, and the whole world felt still.

That is, other than the white-haired girl pacing back and forth, annoyed and complaining. Saiki was slightly confused by the lack of sound despite her lips making clear indication of speech. She seemed familiar, was she the girl that he was in the closet with? Her white dress might've been in the closet, it wasn't like Saiki had been paying particular attention to that.

 _'No, her stature is shorter. She seems younger, and her hair is styled differently. A sister? Daughter? Wait, I don't care. Why am I here?'_ Saiki thought before being given an immediate answer. A man, well… a male faunus, if the falcon wings were any indication, descended from the ceiling. The window to the ventilation shaft fell to the floor, its silent clang disturbing the girl from her own thoughts as she turned to face the white mask the faunus wore.

Before she could properly react, white became red.

\- Ψ-

Saiki's headache worsened, snapping him away from his vision. Recently, Saiki kept getting headaches for no apparent reason, making it difficult to tell if it was due to stress or due to his powers. In this case, Saiki could definitely classify it as the latter.

 _'Precognition, huh? Doesn't normally trigger from a singular death, especially not in a dream as well, but it is close in proximity, I suppose.'_ Saiki, still being invisible, readjusted his position for balance before crossing his eyes. For background, Saiki can sense future events before they happened, but intense visions were normally reserved for larger catastrophes.

 _'I saw that hallway earlier… its right outside this room.'_ Saiki's vision refocused, being able to see the same white-tiled hallway, identical portraits hanging alongside the wall. And the same white-haired girl in a snow-white dress.

 _'She's taking forever. Winter didn't even tell us she was coming home… for a sister, she can be just like dad. This is delaying my flight to Beacon…'_ The girl thought while audibly complaining towards the door of the room Saiki was currently connected to, her complaints mainly relating to the former of her thoughts: having to wait.

Saiki refocused his clairvoyance on the ceiling, and into the ventilation duct. The falcon faunus was there, sure enough, and it seemed like he would reach the opening within a few seconds.

However, it wasn't like this was particularly his problem. Saiki hadn't caused this break-in, although if the panicked thoughts were any clue, it seemed more like a miniature raid.

Once he was left alone in the closet, Saiki only had to teleport away, find this Ozpin character, learn how to get back home, and bring everyone back. It would be too late to wipe their memories but Saiki could at least minimize the damage.

 _'Hmm, is that one of the Schnee daughters? Weiss, right? What an opportunity, if I kill her, the Schnees would be in chaos.'_ The plot-progression tool of a faunus thought upon reaching the vent window.

 _'So it was a coincidental assassination, huh? I guess she has bad luck with God, too.'_ Saiki thought _._

"Would you hurry up?! I would've already left if you had come later like you were supposed to!" Weiss yelled into the door.

Saiki wasn't a hero. He hated Aiura for constantly believing that he could become one. Heroes stand out, heroes do the unnecessary, and heroes care about too many people.

"Weiss, would you wait for a moment?! Ironwood had to rearrange his council meeting with your father!" The older sister called out, finally finished changing and in the process of reapplying make-up. Saiki questioned why she decided to do in the small closet, but the noise of opening the bottle hid the noise of Saiki opening the closet door.

Finding himself in the connecting room, Saiki rushed towards the hallway entrance, and held down the handle. Opening would attract the hallway girl's attention, but that situation was about to change anyways.

The faunus forcibly opened the ventilation shaft, preparing himself to drop down, placing a white mask over his face.

 _'You would think they would be a bit more worried about their intruders. Guess you can get spoiled on security as well.'_ Saiki commented, making sure to stay alert. He only had a few instants to work with. This isn't his fight, and he intended to keep it that way.

 _'I wonder why Ironwood also needs to go to Vale for those kids…'_

The metal grate clanged onto the floor. The older sister, who was still in the closet, stood in alert and began to run towards the room's door. Weiss turned, and began to reach for her Myrtenaster at her side. As she wasn't facing it, she never noticed her weapon flying into her grip.

Or at least that was what it looked like when Saiki quickly carried it towards her. Losing contact the very moment before she grabbed it was difficult, and Saiki was fairly certain that if he timed it wrong, he would be revealed by matter of indirect touch. That's why worn clothing can bring him out of invisibility as well.

Quickly sliding with momentum, Saiki kicked up the metal grate as it rebounded. With the force from his kick, the grate slammed upwards into the faunus's feet, completely ruining his offensive form.

Saiki's interference allowed Weiss enough time to swipe at the mid-air assassin. When he had hit the floor, Weiss stabbed her rapier into the ground. Saiki was momentarily confused until he saw ice form around the blade and travel along the ground towards the faunus. Ice shot up from the path, and encased the faunus's limbs in a frozen prison.

When the older huntress pushed the door the full way, curiously ajar from when Saiki had opened it earlier, she was met with a relieving sight. Her sister perfectly fine, and in control of the situation.

A feat that would not have been achieved without Saiki. He was not the hero, they were. They would never know he was even there. It was risky moving from his position while invisible, but precognition warned of the situation and leaving it like this would leave a bad taste in his mouth. The fact that he was the indirect cause of it after he had already begun moving definitely helped Saiki inwardly justify it.

Saiki became aware that even the slight commotion that he created gathered the attention of nearly every guard in the vicinity. It was almost like an idol concert. Rabid fans and fake people. Saiki learned even before Teruhashi that idols weren't the best people let alone the genuine kind.

Moving on from the tangent, the approaching horde left Saiki in a very bad situation. Without his powers, it would be difficult to avoid so many people without his powers. Taking off his shoes, Saiki began running to one of the hallway intersections. Leaving his shoes on was a mistake he made during his savior moment, and he could only hope that no one heard his footsteps.

At the intersection, Saiki turned the corner and was met with further obstacles. There were two guards and more than a few robots approaching from that direction. Saiki wasn't sure that those robots could also break his invisibility but he certainly didn't want to test it.

"Heat signature detected." "Heat signature detected." "Life form identified."

' _Oh no.'_ Saiki didn't wait for everybody else to react to the robots announcing his invisible presence. Saiki immediately shot himself down the hallway, in the opposite direction from which he initially came. If they really could track his heat signature, Saiki needed to get as far away as possible. Saiki could use pyrokinesis to heighten body temperature but cryokinesis wasn't as easily controllable. He would probably just end up with ice in his blood. Coating himself in ice wouldn't actually hide his temperature either according to science.

Not to mention it was entirely pointless, since he couldn't use those abilities while invisible.

 _'Robots really are annoying.'_ Saiki complained. They had moved in conjunction and cut him off using units that weren't even there initially. The lens of Saiki's glasses glared in his face as a red spotlight shone from both behind and in front of him. Being surrounded by two groups in a narrow hallway just left their lights awkwardly shining at one another however.

Realizing this, Saiki contemplated whether to take advantage of the light and cut his losses. If he cancelled his invisibility, he could teleport out. He still had another seven minutes of invisibility open to him, but this certainly wasn't looking good.

Saiki regretted not just jumping out one of the windows in the hallway where the ambush had taken place. Before he was able to decide to cut away and run, the spotlights were turned off, ruining the chances of that plan. Instead they were replaced by red laser sights. At the very least, his invisible form reflected the light. They could still see the distorted space from the lasers but the witnesses' depth of field was a different issue altogether.

Unfortunately, depth manipulation doesn't really work when considering crowd control abilities, such as using ice-based Dust to cascade against the floor in a slanted spiked pattern. Apparently the older of the sisters wasn't concerned with using lethal force against the camouflage unit she assumed Saiki to be.

Saiki clenched his fists before thinking of a risky strategy, one that would probably be the only way to help hide his appearance.

Running straight towards the spikes, the guards and robots previously stepping aside for the attack, Saiki jumped over the hurdle before it could reach him. The attack forked slightly in a very quick response and Saiki was barely able to recover his footing on the ice. Kicking his invisible feet off of the slanted ice surface, Saiki charged at the older huntsmen.

Expecting a frontal assault, Winter thrusted Weiss's confiscated rapier towards the flying individual, only indicated by laser sights.

Saiki wasn't trying to attack however, allowing him to easily slide past and roll behind her. This is where he needed to make decisions instinctively due to the rapid pace it would require.

Before she could turn, Saiki swept a leg to knock Winter off-balance. Upon doing so, Saiki's form was revealed. Throwing his sneakers at her nearby sister's head to obstruct her vision, Saiki also mass hypnotized everyone to think his color scheme was blue and red. While his pink hair and green uniform would still be seen, an unfortunate by-product of forcibly revealing his invisibility, the color differential might be thought of as an optical illusion.

Taking a longer moment to let everyone see his altered color scheme, so there would be less room for arguing against their vision, Saiki teleported.

At his disappearance, a pair of sneakers made an audible noise upon contact with Weiss's face. Saiki had used his completely weak throw, but that only helped foster the awkward atmosphere. One Schnee had dirt from a sneaker on her face and the other had recovered from her fall to swipe at nothing.

As the robots began announcing their loss of a foreign heat signature, orders were barked around to find the intruder and analyze the pair of shoes.

\- Ψ-

' _That was close_.' Saiki thought while putting back on his school shoes, feet growing cold in the cold air.

Saiki was now on the roof of the building, bringing out his scroll to learn about Ozpin. If he didn't find anything of relevance, Saiki would end up having to stick around the estate even longer to try and gather more direct information.

 _'Ok…Ozpin…doesn't seem that common of a name from the results…'_ Saiki narrowed it down to the first result, the only other Ozpin of any particular note was a business name in a small town of Mistral. Considering the general limitations of cross-continental air transport in this world, it probably belonged to the Ozpin that had the majority of related posts. The headmaster of Beacon Academy.

 _'Seriously? A headmaster? Of one of the cliché anime schools? Well I guess if the cliché of the school, the monsters, and special powers distinct to individuals were true, why not the cliché of a mysterious headmaster. Why couldn't it be like Beelzebub where the principal is a damn gardener?'_ Saiki's eye twitched in annoyance.

 _'The biggest problem about this is Kaidou. There is no doubt that he would at least try to get into that school given any opportunity. His actual performance would be questionable, but since he would take a faux leadership due to being the most comfortable with the situation of them, he could drag Nendou and Teruhashi along. Both of them might attract attention for completely opposite reasons. There's also the issue that Toritsuka actually had a power. Even if it isn't meant for combat that he would easily show off if there was anyone he found himself attracted to. I wouldn't have to be so worried if I knew they would get rejected, but they were shipped to another damn continent out of curiosity.'_

 _'At the lowest comfort, they still couldn't fight, they didn't have powers like everyone else here. Unless they could get it for themselves…'_

Saiki immediately closed the tab about Ozpin, and searched for another topic. 'How to activate an aura' brought up a decent amount of educational articles. Clicking on the first link, Saiki quickly read through, worried for a bullshit reason that his classmates might gain the powers native to this world.

"It has been stated that the activation of one's own Aura requires training and willpower, though someone with considerable training can unlock the Aura of another person."

 _'…Seriously?'_ Saiki left his hand upon his face for a few moments, overcome by what kind of world he got himself stuck in. If he crushed all of the Grimm, which might take a decently long time, there is the possibility that news gets back to his classmates making it difficult when he goes back home.

 _'The simple answer is to just join them in the school. It would be easy enough to get accepted due to my abilities, but I don't want to have to control my own powers in combat on a regular basis. Not standing out would be difficult as well.'_

 _'There's also the issue that the girl, Weiss, would also be attending. If she was smart enough, she might realize my color scheme due to my little visual trick. Well, my hair, since I should get rid of the uniform if given the chance. Those sneakers mean nothing since they were unpriced display version, able to be apported for free.'_

Saiki breathed, he would sigh but that would take more of a physical effort. _'I suppose I shouldn't let myself jump to conclusions. My eyes are getting sore from using clairvoyance all of the time, but I need to find where they are.'_

Finding Teruhashi back at the school trip was instant because Saiki could instantly scan the world, since he had taken a few hours to map the entire world in his head. Using clairvoyance to search the entire world this time would take much longer if he didn't know where he was looking. He also had no idea how large the inhabitable portions of the world were.

At the very least, Beacon Academy was a pretty big and important building. Crossing his eyes to start clairvoyance, Saiki's vision shifted to the school instantly from seeing it previously.

 _'Alright, Beacon Academy. I suppose the large tower is the most important building, so there first.'_ Saiki crossed his eyes to envision the uppermost room.

Finding his vision within an empty office, Saiki glanced towards the name plate on the desk. Ozpin. Well, he was at least in the right place…probably.

 _'This headmaster must be annoying to deal with if you have to take an elevator all the way up here to just see him… how much mystery has to surround the guy until it becomes annoying for others?'_ Saiki commented before quickly shuffling his clairvoyance throughout the campus. There didn't seem to be a large number of students walking about despite the numerous faculty members. They were probably still preparing for the beginning of the school year, something he learned earlier was happening in two days.

But what Saiki couldn't find were his classmates. Were they already released? It seems unlikely considering the amount of attention they've drawn. There didn't seem to be any sign of Ozpin either. Were they in a government facility elsewhere? No, as soon as he learned where they were, Saiki had already checked the most important buildings in every recorded country and they didn't hold any indication towards his classmates' location. This world doesn't function in the conventional 'normal' sense he was used to.

 _'Fine then, I'll have to imagine the world through Kaidou's eyes. Or maybe an amateur mangaka that wants a story in Shonen Jump. Let's see… stereotypical plot hmm… First, protagonist has odd quirk such as being able to copy powers, having no powers, nullification, harnessing the evil, or has the lowest talent. Their entry into the world is odd enough, and I'm sure they'll be noticed to have no aura despite the initial power spike. They would also be speaking in a completely different language so... check.'_

 _'Secondly, someone else in the stronger world, whether the adult world or the fantastical world brings the protagonist in, despite their reluctance. Ozpin. Third, they would be put through training where they meet their friends… wait, training?'_

 _'Of course! Someone like the Ozpin equivalent would find interest in the main character, but have them train with the other normal acolytes! The 'new world' cliché would start varying there. But where would they train other than the academy? They would be enrolled in the school if they show any talent, but they need a place to show that talent… outside the city? No, Ozpin is more of a bullshit character to introduce literally anything into the story, he would have more resources. Transforming classrooms wouldn't be that odd…'_

 _'Classroom? If the school is meant to train people in fighting, then wouldn't there be space for that? The large forest at the edge of grounds didn't have anybody in it, but it was being prepared. So they should have a proper arena somewhere. There were stadiums, but the echo from the noise might attract unnecessary outside attention. Echoes?'_

 _'Sound would always attract other people unless way above ground… or under it. Underground room. Seriously, that was cliché enough, how did it take me so long to think of something that stupid?'_ Saiki was getting frustrated by the cookie-cutter nature of this world. The only difference is that each world was a different flavored cookie. What? Was it meant to be easy to combine anything with something this generic? What made _this_ place so damn special?

 _'Wait, nothing needs to make this place special… it's not like I've been transported into any world I know… Why am I treating it as if it's all just fake?'_ Saiki thought, realizing the gravity of the situation even more so than he already had _. 'This fiction's become a reality whether I like it or not. I just need to get out of here as soon as possible. And that means finding those idiots that attracted this much attention in the first place. At least clairvoyance still works underground.'_

It didn't take long to locate an underground room where people could train. There were several. Luckily, only one seemed to be in active use.

\- Ψ-

"So then, what do you think?" The man Saiki recognized to be Ozpin said. His grey hair… wait, does he have only that one pair of clothes? He wore the same thing in the picture. The woman he was standing near wasn't as recognizable however. She had blonde hair and carried herself much more like an actual teacher. Other than the riding crop at her side. It's like she wanted to be labeled as a dominatrix.

"What I'm thinking is that you clearly aren't." Wow. Nice comment. Saiki silently applauded how direct it was and the tone behind it made it sound genuinely evidenced. "Interrogating them was one thing since they're… odd, to say the least. But giving these kids an aura?"

Teruhashi was also standing alongside the two, giving a nod in agreement. Her face seemed to express her similar annoyance. It seems that she still hadn't fully learned English yet, and that she didn't need to actually participate in the activities currently happening in the center of the room.

The rest of his classmates were engaged in fighting robots of a similar model as the ones Saiki came upon. Kaidou was running around, but didn't seem to actually be attacking despite the smirk of confidence on his face. Toritsuka was expertly using a wooden sword to attack the robots from every angle. Since Toritsuka isn't that capable, he probably had a ghost possess him. Finally, Kuboyasu Aren was beating on their metal bodies in a fairly straightforward manner.

…Wait. Kuboyasu?! Looking around, Nendou wasn't actually there. ' _Kuboyasu wasn't even near me in the first place! Why is he here? Does that mean Nendou's still back at his school? Was there a witness to our disappearance?'_

' _Then again, it's Nendou. He probably wouldn't care and just write it off when they came back. Hopefully no one would take him seriously if he said three people disappeared in front of him.'_ Saiki attempted to dismiss his worries. ' _Kuboyasu was written to get the manga author out of a rut, as with most new characters, but leaving out Nendou in this story is just lazy.'_

Saiki refocused his attention back on the teachers when the blonde woman began talking again. "From what I can tell, only their auras are the strange things about them, and it's not in a good way. Only one of them seems to actually have a semblance at the moment, but he said he had it from birth. But none of them can actually fight well. Shouldn't we-"

She was cut off as Ozpin put a finger to her lips, with a finger over his own to indicate silence. For once in Saiki's vision, he had a dead serious face on.

"Someone's watching." Ozpin whispered. Saiki reeled in shock, he couldn't have meant him, right?

Saiki's vision cut off abruptly like a bright light being shined in front of your face. Saiki clutched at his eyes in recovery.

 _'Seriously?! W-what?!'_ Saiki couldn't properly compose his thoughts as he was used to being detected, but being _countered_ was a different story _. 'I can't expect anything in this world, can I?!'_

Saiki was feeling beyond annoyed, a feeling of pure rage and frustration. Was this what he got for letting his guard down for a single damn moment?! Why does being a damn psychic have to be such an annoying disaster?!

Calming down, Saiki gave up on one thing. Protecting his identity from those four. As soon as he figures out how to teleport back home, he'll just have to do a smash and grab. Well, not the smash part, he didn't want to destroy the school. If he could, that is.

It certainly had been a while since Saiki doubted he could actually destroy something. Last time was when he was 6 years old, wondering if he could destroy the Great Pyramids from across the world. Having to spend three minutes in the desert gave him plenty of time to stop doubting himself. Thankfully, no one saw how the pyramids rebuilt themselves.

In this case, Saiki could destroy the school with little effort. But with the number of abilities present in this world, he might be outed before getting anywhere close. This poses a problem to try and recover his classmates as well. If someone could see him coming, then they could prepare. While Saiki wouldn't get caught since he himself would be able to scope out beforehand using clairvoyance, his classmates could be taken to 'safety'.

 _'I'll have plenty of time to worry about his later. The immediate issue is getting back home in the first place. I probably need to remove at least one of my limiters for the process, but people nearby are able to detect the shift in power.'_ Doing so in civilization would no doubt attract people and then he might not be in a condition to escape. If he were to do it in the wild, instead of people, then the Grimm might be attracted. While it wasn't a hundred percent chance, it wasn't a chance Saiki was particularly looking to test.

 _'Hmm?'_ Saiki was roused from his musings as thoughts from downstairs indicated that they were about to inspect the roof. _'Well, I guess I'll have to make my way to Vale now.'_

Using clairvoyance, Saiki scouted out possible locations where he would be unnoticed. The lining forests to the town was filled with patrols so it would take slightly more time to actually make his way into town. However, most places in Vale was populated so it seems… oh wait, here we go. This harbor area is completely vacant. There seems to be some workers much further off confused about something, but teleporting into the area he spotted should give him time to slink himself into the city without notice.

Alright. First, he needed to take off his school uniform jacket in case someone recognized it being similar. _'While it looks stupid, I'll wrap it around my waist so I don't lose it. Now then. Teleport.'_

\- Ψ-

\- Kuboyasu Aren: 「The Former Delinquent Stereotype」 that still has violent tendencies whenever someone is being exceptionally mean to others. His pure strength is not at the same level of Nendou's but is still able to casually crack walls and carry heavy objects.

* * *

 **I wonder if anyone assumed that Saiki would actually encounter the rest of the story through Weiss when she was mentioned. I'm trying to avoid the completely coincidental entering into the storyline that most other stories use as a tactic. It's not a bad tactic but Saiki Kusuo is meant to either defy the expectations or make fun of them.**

 **Anyway, next time on _A Disastrous New World for Saiki Kusuo:_ Actual interaction with Saiki and another established character, hooray!**


	3. Chapter 3: PSIlent Night

**Please feel free to leave negative critiques as well as positive comments in reviews. It helps the story grow better even if you just point out a jarring typo. I'm probably going to be doing a quick fix on Chapter 2 after this chapter goes live. If I grow as a writer, I might rewrite some of these 'older' chapters to be more coherent and engaging in the future.**

 **With that, here is the next chapter of _A Disastrous New World for Saiki Kusuo_**

* * *

 _'Hmm. It's a bit darker than I expected.'_ Saiki thought, his initial teleport kicking up a bit of dust. The large containers around him made a decent shield from outside eyes and it was close enough to the city that he didn't have to walk much further. Well, it would make a good shield, but his invisibility would have been able to achieve the same effect. However, since no one was around, there was no need to become invisible before he actually needed it. Flying away would be too conspicuous, but Saiki was planning on walking anyways.

When he was surveying places earlier, he had actually wanted a place that had a larger number of people, letting his sudden appearance go unnoticed in the masses of people. However, there didn't seem to be a particularly large gathering of people anywhere. Even the late night clubs were either closed or under siege. In that case, a secluded site with only one other nearby person should be fine. A singular person was easier to avoid. And so, Saiki ended up in the central area of a harbor. His clairvoyance let him see that the only other worker nearby was about to walk around a shipping container and Saiki should be able to sneak past him into the rest of the city.

Just as Saiki rounded the corner, Saiki reeled back in actual surprise. When he used his x-ray vision, Saiki had determined when it was safe to walk around without being even caught in his peripheral vision. Thinking back, he probably should've suspected something when the worker's bones seemed fuzzy. Saiki just thought he was getting tired. Now that worker was standing right in front of Saiki. Well, at least, one of him. There were two versions of the man, one currently showing an incredibly well-hidden false surprise and waving towards him, and the other was currently on the ground, bleeding profusely from a wound on his chest, barely missing his heart. The bleeding version had a slight transparency to him.

If they were just sharing the same uniform, it wouldn't be as distressing. But they had the same face, the same scar on their shoulder, the same dirty patch on their tang top, the same discolored shade of blue on their pants.

"H-help me…" The man on the ground whimpered, his thoughts echoing the statement with an utter fear of what would happen next. His thoughts? The standing version hadn't been thinking this entire time, Saiki got careless.

Saiki tensed himself, staring at the girl standing above the bleeding man sharing his transparency. Saiki made sure his colored glasses hid the direction of his gaze.

The girl was shorter than he was, and wore a white cut-off blazer that showed off a little of her cleavage. She was wearing a black shirt under the blazer coupled with black pants. The number of necklaces she had on seemed uncomfortable, to say the least. The most unique part of her appearance was her brown and pink colored hair, each occupying a separate half on her head just as her similarly brown and pink eyes did. The slight panic in her hetero-colored eyes was replaced with suspicion towards Saiki's sudden appearance and subsequent reaction. Her white boots stepped across the harbor deck, staring at the newcomer, still preparing to stab the dying man before refocusing her attention.

Her entire style reminded Saiki of ice cream. Maybe if Teruhashi reminded him so strongly of a dessert, he might've said "Ofu…"? No. No, it wouldn't. ' _From an ice fortress to ice cream, huh. Why is the latter scarier for once?!'_

Saiki was certainly getting plenty of these moments where he needed to think quickly. Clearly, seeing double was due to one of their abilities, suspicions more towards the girl. Saiki chided himself for reacting at all since he might've been able to walk by, their transparency likely indicating they were invisible to others. Or at least people without psychic-enhanced vision. _'Although I can't see past the illusion through walls.'_

It would be easy for him to ignore the dying worker, faking that his surprise was due to the waving version of him, and going on his way. He certainly had no obligations to save a man he barely knew and from a different world. Helping him would only lead to the very problems he had been trying to avoid.

Unfortunately, Saiki already had enough problems to deal with. One of which would be his own morality.

Using his telekinesis, having little time left to think of other options, Saiki psychically pushed the girl backwards. Forgetting to put any restraint in it wasn't exactly deliberate but if Saiki was unsure an 'aura' could at least protect from a simple telekinetic push, the restraint would've been there. It's not like a simple push had any violent force behind it, it was only when an object was paired with it that the ability becomes lethal, like his fist, for instance. Saiki himself physically walked over to the dying man to rewind the time on his body, saving his life.

Oh. Wait. Before saving his life, Saiki first used the thing that looks like the TV Tokyo banana mascot… this isn't animated, it should be fine to just say it was a crowbar. Saiki used the crowbar to deliver a strong blow to the back of his head, before rewinding his body. By using the crowbar, Saiki also erased the memory of himself and what Saiki could assume was his would-be killer to avoid the annoyance of authorities. What those crucial memories be replaced with by his brain's own memory recovery system, Saiki had no idea. The use of the crowbar also had the secondary effect of knocking the worker unconscious. It was good he picked it up while 'shopping' in Atlas.

Meanwhile, the girl neatly recovered herself, using her umbrella to stop her momentum and daintily fall to the ground. Her thoughts weren't as composed however, with her curiosity overwhelming any sense of panic or fear.

 _'He can see through my semblance? He seems like a child but that is a bothersome trait.'_

 _'I don't want to be called a child by someone shorter than I am, and your entire existence is a bothersome trait._ ' Saiki annoyingly thought to himself _. 'Wait, semblance? Is that why there were two-'_

Saiki was interrupted from his thoughts to put up his crowbar, using his psychic powers to instantly push up his arm to avoid the need for the sensation to reach the nerves in his arms. Metal clashed on metal, with Saiki using his psychic powers to help enhance his own grip strength.

The girl had closed the distance nearly instantly, without any special powers or blinding speed but just with a lack of hesitation in her movements. Saiki hadn't expected a blade to extend from the umbrella tip, but her thoughts gave her away. Even so, Saiki barely had time to bring up his arm instead of using a psychic shield. This way it may look like he just had a higher level of strength that it looked, rather than reveal another power other than telekinesis. ' _But an umbrella? Seriously? Is this some kind of silly American spy movie in addition to a shounen?'_

However, Saiki being inexperienced in fighting, especially in physical weaponry, was easy prey to be disarmed. The metal tip of the umbrella slid along the crowbar until resting itself in the crowbar's nook allowing its female user to twist the crowbar out of Saiki's enhanced grip and flew away until it clanged against one of the metal containers.

 _'Shit.'_ Saiki quickly thought, before once again pushing the girl away. This time to a different effect. She shattered into the air like glass. ' _Dammit, did I just kill her?!'_

Staring at his hand worriedly, Saiki wondered if he gained another annoying power. Confusion hadn't turned to realization in time, Saiki failing to notice her thoughts hadn't actually stopped. His opponent had expertly dodged his field of vision to attack his blind spot. It would have been an easy kill if Saiki hadn't maintained a psychic barrier ever since the start of the battle, more for security against a possible new party than suddenly grounded concerns for his opponent.

 _'What? He didn't react in time but he still blocked?'_ The girl's smile was disrupted for a split second in shock.

Turning around, Saiki saw the blade of the umbrella a few centimeters away from his face. For once, Saiki had a face of surprise considering how close he was to being fatally injured. The umbrella was then pulled back as the girl leapt backwards a considerable distance for her stature, still sporting a smile but her thoughts being clearly unsettled.

 _'That's not an aura, meaning his semblance is simply that strong. Air manipulation? Then why could he see through my illusion? I can't tell… but he's still a witness.'_ The girl's confused tone in her thoughts certainly didn't match her relaxed, somewhat arrogant stance. Saiki couldn't help but be impressed by her poker face, being a connoisseur of one himself. But right now he needed to make sure this fight didn't last much longer. People might eventually take notice, and Saiki was fairly sure both parties didn't want that.

 _'I don't want to fight. There's no reason to-'_ Saiki cut himself off before clenching his teeth in regret.

 _'There's a voice is in my head?! Is it his?!'_ The girl's previously composed stature suddenly matched her thoughts of nervousness, visibly flinching.

 _'Tch.'_ He forgot. Back on his own world, he had used mind control at a very young age to make it natural that people didn't care that Saiki spoke without moving his mouth. Hypnosis didn't work on himself unless in extenuating circumstances. Saiki was just glad that the way he worded the command made it only apply to himself. Saiki was honestly getting too careless, but it was only natural when you switch from a world where he defined some of the rules of reality to a world that made fiction into reality.

Saiki took less than a second to think of his possibilities…no, it's no good, they all require killing her or destroying the world. Erasing her memory wouldn't be enough, he couldn't delete entire memories, only bits. The worker would still remember Saiki and the girl but not the physical murder. Even if Saiki erased her memory of his mess-up, she would still remember the fight and that he was a witness and stopped her kill. If he erased the fight, the mess-up would still be known.

"Can you read my mind?" The girl mouthed, interrupting Saiki's thoughts. How should he respond to that? He should mimic confusion, he's done it before, but he can't slip up. He'll use his mouth this time.

"What are you talking about?" Saiki said, determining that the most likely response someone would give. He would rather have stayed silent, he preferred that, but Saiki had let his silence lead to annoying situations before where others' imagination had let it go rampant. Also, Saiki did in fact speak aloud, the fact that he didn't talk in the manga (outside of one instance even the author regrets) didn't mean he was going to stay silent in this world as well.

 _'So you can.'_ The girl thought in response, allowing herself to relax with the conversation's shift in control. ' _You can actually hear me…_ _that's new_ _._ '

Saiki was confused how she realized that so quickly- oh. She never actually said anything, she only mouthed the words. Saiki could always distinguish between thought and speech by their posture, and whether or not he was actually in earshot. However, this girl perfectly disguised her thoughts as her speech, tricking him. While Saiki was frustrated, he had to admit that it was orchestrated well. ' _So my choices are to still try and deny it or trust my secret, at least a part of it, to a teenage assassin. Or should I say hitman, since there are actual shows that make assassins out to be good people? Either way, both options are awful but I put myself in this position due to my own stupidity. The best option would be to just kill her… but that's off-limits.'_

Well, Toritsuka learned about his powers by coincidence. Aiura found him out when he was forced to reveal himself to save Yumehara's life. Kaidou, Kuboyasu, and Teruhashi would probably find out by the time their escapade to another world is over, although Saiki would try to make sure that never happens. Hmm… wait, just how valuable is his secret here? Ah, another new revelation.

There was no point in keeping all of his powers secret. He was in a world _with_ powers. Saiki was overpowered, that he had little doubt. ' _But why keep everything hidden when I have a real possible explanation as to why I have powers? There isn't. I've been trying to hide behind the word 'normal'. But the definition of that word has changed. He could hide the rest of his powers by pretending one of his powers was his grant from this world.'_

 _'Mind reading is a power that I certainly don't want to be public, however.'_ Saiki said, reminded of his current predicament. Saiki looked towards the ice-cream themed girl. ' _But with you… I suppose I might need to reveal myself...partially. I can play pretend with people in the future.'_ People here have actual powers. But their powers are primarily for combat from what Saiki could tell… if mind reading let alone mind control were to become public knowledge, society itself would find itself divided over a stupid issue.

' _Alright. Fine. You caught me. I can read your mind.'_ Saiki made caution to specify her mind, to leave his power's automatic nature not bleed out immediately. He could also bluff he had control over it this way. ' _So now would you believe that I don't… want to fight you?'_ Saiki momentarily hesitated because he had almost said 'care' instead of 'want' and the presumptuous connotation of that might have antagonized her further.

Meanwhile, the girl rested her chin on the hand she was supporting on her crossed legs. While Saiki's mass thinking seemed long, it only took around a few seconds. In that time, little miss ice cream had found herself a box to sit upon. ' _Mmm… eh, why not? Not gonna try and arrest me either?'_

 _'Huh? That's even more troublesome.'_ Even through his green lenses, Saiki's blank stare was still fully visible.

 _'Oh? Fighting me would be easier, then?'_ The girl leaned forward suggestively, but not in a sexual manner whatsoever. Not that Saiki would really notice.

 _'You little…No, I guess it was my fault.'_ Saiki inwardly grunted. Rather than responding in a way that might land him in more trouble, Saiki just waved his hand dismissively.

 _'Well, you're not going to arrest me and you don't want to fight. So what?'_ The girl tilted her head, both as a taunt and as an indicator of annoyance and slight disappointment. _'Did you save him out of pity or something? Morality, maybe?'_

Saiki was conflicted again. It was nice being perfectly understood for once, especially by someone who actually learning about his powers, it felt a bit nice. Aiura, Toritsuka, his parents, and definitely his brother weren't much comfort. Conversely, he was being so easily read despite having to live his life primarily to hide his secret. It hurt his pride a bit, but it also bothered him that the girl in front of him was able to determine it so quickly…and through fairly straightforward logic that had been sorely lacking from the people around him for a long while. Sighing, Saiki thought it wasn't enough to give a simple nod this time so he simply said, "Correct."

 _'Well, that guy over there has been stealing a lot of money in product from my employer. By the way, can I kill him? It was kind of my job. If you think about it, I could just kill him when you move on.'_ She thought while pointing at the unconscious man in question.

Well, she did have a point. "So why not just blackmail him into giving it back?"

 _'I was told to kill him. Not much more than that. I would've just killed you, too. But I recognize that I probably can't do that quickly enough, at least not right now.'_ She thought, smirking when she noticed Saiki tense slightly _. 'Anyways, no one to blackmail, he spent all the money already, and the amount that he might actually pay would be far too little for the trouble and if he were to resort to crime and be caught, well, that would just be trouble, wouldn't it?'_

"Not much more than that, huh?" …Well, she had multiple points. Thinking about it, Saiki couldn't find any way to save his life or any reason to for that matter other than simple morality. If he kept watch over the guy and constantly prodded his thoughts, they wouldn't need to be killed but that would seriously take way too much effort for no actual payoff for him. Even if he teleported him to another country, the guy might still find himself in the hands of the authorities to be interrogated. And he would probably be killed then. Saiki could also do some morally grey things to get the guy to stop altogether but then they might be in a position where they'd rather die.

"Give me a moment." Saiki said, walking over to the unconscious body, taking over one of his extremely thin gloves to use his power of psychometry, the ability to tell where something or someone's had been any time in the past. When going over the guy's history, other than when he was a child, there really wasn't anything redeeming to the person's character. Meaning no reason to not have him die. _'Great... that didn't make this decision any easier.'_

 _'What are you doing over there?'_ The girl asked in thought. Saiki was currently having a moral dilemma. But after a good while of thinking about, Saiki really couldn't find any answers.

"Do what you want. I'd prefer if you found a different method though." Saiki finally responded, just to get a roll of hetero-colored eyes.

 _'Fine. Whatever. But onto business. Do you want to join us? Being able to read minds is quite a... valuable ability. Or is your moral compass too strong for organized crime? I mean, there has to be something you want right?'_

Saiki was about to outright reject the offer. It would just be troubling to get himself involved with… well, anything. However, there were two things that he might actually want… and at least one of which would be illegal anyway. "…Do you have a way to completely disguise extreme power fluctuations? And secondly, is there a way to access Beacon Academy at any time?"

 _'Gotcha.'_ The girl thought. Saiki flinched a bit, wondering if that was a conscious thought or not. Also did a petty crime group really have something like that? If so, he might need to change his career choice from 'average office worker' to 'suspiciously well-off office worker'. Unless he needed to become a killer, it would be annoying to clean up; explosions and fire still left ashes.

 _'For the first thing, I'm not completely sure._ _Cinder might have something._ ' The girl continued. Saiki noted the slight resent toward the name Cinder. _'As for the second thing, it's not at any time, probably. But we can at least get you in.'_

' _Well. That's not exactly what I need but it's better than what I've got. Which is nothing. But another moral dilemma already. Great.'_ Saiki thought to himself. He can read her mind, not vice versa, thankfully.

"Fine." Saiki replied. "But I'm not going to go around murdering or anything. And you can't tell everyone about my powers unless I say otherwise. Those are my conditions."

 _'Oh please. We're not going to have a mind reader go out and murder. We're not monsters. Just criminals._ ' The girl thought, jumping herself to a standing position. She then turned her head with a smile and motioned her arm in a direction. _'Well, shall we go?'_

Saiki replaced the glove back onto his hand before standing himself, already walking to where she motioned to. "Alright, Whatever-" **SHIK.**

Saiki stopped talking as he turned around to see the girl pulling her umbrella out of the heart cavity of the worker's body.

 _'What? You only said prefer._ ' The girl simply stated in thought before walking past Saiki. Saiki himself was a bit disturbed. Not so much from the death as much as he thought but how she hadn't actually thought about killing him before he did it. He only heard a quick _'Oh'_ before it happened. That probably meant killing was instinctive for her. Should he really be getting involved in this? Saiki once again face the girl in her tri-colored attire, still striding ahead of him. Without turning around, she introduced herself in thought.

 _'The name's Neo, by the way.'_

 _'Neo? Like Neapolitan ice cream?'_ Saiki muttered in thought. Looking over her white, pink, and brown attire, Saiki could barely hold back a face in itself that could say, 'Seriously?' Deciding to ignore it, this world was annoying enough that he didn't want to bother questioning a name. Although now he felt like he needed to eat something sweet.

' _What's your name, then?'_ Neo asked without turning around.

Realizing that he should probably start following at this point, Saiki figured that since she already knew about his powers, it's not like his name would really matter. Being too lazy to actually shout out his name to cover the new distance between them, he decided to telepathically transmit his name, _'Saiki Kusuo.'_

' _Saiki Kusuo, huh? Hm? Saiki ku. Psychic? Really?'_ At the end of the thought sequence, Neo had turned around to look at him both incredulously and mockingly.

' _You really shouldn't be talking.'_ Saiki responded, causing Neo to turn back and keep walking.

' _Touché.'_

\- Ψ-

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Saiki still walking a few strides behind Neo, never bothering to initially catch up, he was staring at the different stores with products both familiar and foreign. By the time he finally saw an actual pastry shop on a different road, Neo notified him, 'Hey, we're here.'

Turning away from the thought of confections, Saiki found himself facing… an average-looking apartment. And it wasn't an illusion or anything, since it seems Saiki has the ability to bypass them, just an apartment. Stopping next to a waiting Neo, Saiki commented, "I was expecting a warehouse or something."

 _'We have some, but it's not like we live there.'_ Neo thought, facing Saiki and lowering her eyelids to emphasize her annoyance. ' _Also, it's late and Cinder should be stopping by before she has to leave.'_

"Wait, Cinder doesn't live here? Then who did you mean by 'we'?"

 _'Roman. He's the boss who's being ordered by Cinder to do stuff.'_ Neo thought, climbing up a few steps to open the door.

"Doesn't sound like a boss." Saiki commented before scanning the building with his x-ray vision. While he could read the thoughts of people inside, he would prefer not to be ambushed on sight.

 _'Well he's the leader of my group at the least,_ _and it's not like I'm that unhappy about it.'_ Neo thought.

 _'By the way, how long do we have to wait?'_ Saiki asked, he was beginning to wonder if Neo was also starting to get annoyed by the constant shifts in the way he talks. Telepathy and spoken word, both called 'weapons' by ignorant parties.

Neo looked confused, _'What do you mean?'_

 _'While I wouldn't be surprised if Roman looked like an average thug, there isn't a single female in the building. Meaning Cinder isn't here and I would like to know how long I would have to wait.'_ While he was reporting his thoughts, Saiki did another quick scan of the premises. The number of average-looking thugs were impressive. Some were still casually wearing their suits inside, and there were a small number of them also wearing sunglasses indoors. Saiki was glad it wasn't only his world that had idiots.

 _'You can see inside the building? Is that how you saw through my semblance, then?'_ Neo asked, raising an eyebrow.

' _Yeah, sure. Whatever.'_ Saiki deadpanned. While she might not have figured out x-ray vision for a while, it wasn't as important to hide as his Medusa stone vision, mind control, or etc. ' _The question, please?'_

Saiki wasn't particularly irritated about the wait. He just wanted to know if he could have ducked out for a moment to sate his sweet tooth. It had been a full two days since he had anything sweet, and he hadn't slept since either. A good sugar rush was certainly an easy answer to both problems. Also, while he didn't want to affect this world that much, if he was going to spend an indeterminate amount of time here, the introduction of coffee jelly into society is a perfectly acceptable risk.

 _'He's so annoying. Ah. Oops. You're so annoying.'_ Neo corrected herself whilst smirking, much to Saiki's disdain. He had about to just ignore her initial impulsive thought but her level of snark was starting to match up to his.

' _Is this what it's like to trust someone semi-competent with my secret?'_ Saiki thought to himself.

' _Anyways, I don't know when they'll get back but it should be soon enough. The heist shouldn't have taken that long anyway.'_

 _'Then I hope you don't mind if I come back a bit later, then.'_ Saiki did not waste his opportunity and immediately turned back towards the sweet shop. If he moved quick enough, then she wouldn't be able to argue.

' _Get back here, dammit!'_ Neo exclaimed in thought. Saiki was glad that the volume of thoughts only lowered and never heightened unless in extraneous circumstances. He also made sure that he didn't even show the slightest reaction to try to bluff he was no longer reading her mind and therefore ignoring her.

' _Oh great. I guess he can't hear me anymore.'_ Yes. Fall for it and go back inside you little gremlin. ' _Time to follow him then.'_

Ah. It backfired. Saiki could hear the previous thought rising into the air, so he presumed she was about to follow him from the rooftops… like a silly spy movie. Goddammit. At this point he couldn't tell when if this world would follow clichés and tropes or abandon them.

But for once, Saiki thought he got lucky. The sweets shop had an awning over its outdoors eating area. Not only did it attest to their likely quality, but it should provide cover for him. Passing the sweets shop, and ducking around the next corner he had access to, Saiki followed Neo's rooftop movements to prepare for his sudden disappearance.

' _Alright. Time to become a magician.'_ Saiki monologued as he calculated when he should move around the corner. Now that he thought about it, he probably should've just gone invisible as soon as he got around the corner instead of just now. Being able to psychically move at the speed of sound wasn't actually necessary here. The tropes might be getting to him. He made sure to deactivate his invisibility using the awning to obscure her angle of vision but not be caught suddenly appearing in anyone's peripheral vision. God was on his side for once with the lack of sidewalk pedestrians. Reappearing at the proper time, Saiki sarcastically thought, " _Amazing!"_

' _Huh? Where did he go? Dammit, did I lose him? …Guess that's it for now. I'll have to wait.'_ Neo's thoughts actually gave Saiki relief for once. Failing to hold back a smile at his fortune, Saiki walked into the store.

It was a heavenly feeling. The fresh aroma of freshly baked breads and berries entered his nostrils. The lights were bright but not blinding, making the fluffy white creams of the cakes appear translucent in their glass casing. Patrons of all shapes and sizes were taking up half the restaurant, enjoying their chatter alongside their variety of dessert choices. The best part was the whiff of coffee that came from nearly all of their cups, meaning they probably had a good blend. He was tempted even to say 'Tadaima (I'm home.)' as the waitress at the front counter looked up from her computer to greet him.

"Welcome." The waitress stated, as Saiki wondered if God was finally giving him a small taste of heaven and the waitress was an angel helping him reach all the way into the sky. "Table for two?"

* * *

 **Next time on _A Disastrous New World for Saiki Kusuo:_ Learning to be sweet.**


	4. Chapter 4: A PSIweet Reminder

**Note: Wow. I'm certainly annoyed with myself for the long wait between chapters. Look at me, getting all cocky by asking about an update schedule in the previous chapter when I took a few months on this one. For anyone curious, there will be a longer note at the bottom explaining but not giving any excuses.**

 **Despite the wait, try to enjoy this chapter of _A Disastrous New World for Saiki Kusuo_.**

* * *

 **SNAP.** The sudden change in Saiki's previously blissful expression to his normal, static, expressionless face took the waitress by complete surprise, causing her to fumble with the menus she was holding. It seems that he had been flying towards heaven, but with wax wings. Icarus was about to hit the ground.

 _'What? Y-you're in here?! Huh. Well might as well make the most of it.'_ Neo thought behind him. Thinking about it, it wasn't that surprising the girl dressed up like an ice cream flavor would come into the nearby sweets shop. For all of his nonsensical powers, Saiki honestly wished precognition worked in response to every annoyance rather than the occasional calamitous one.

Behind Saiki's shoulder, Neo leaned to the side and held up two fingers. At Neo's nod, the waitress began walking towards their designated seats. As Saiki watched Neo pass by him, he contemplated leaving to find another store, one of happiness.

As Saiki sat down in his seat, he instead began wondering what he was going to order. His sense of smell ended up overpowering his sense of self-preservation. He should probably fix that, it might lead to future problems. Looking over the menu, Saiki decided that he would work on it. Later.

"Your waiter will be right with you." This store seemed to be more of a restaurant at this point. Must be a cultural thing. Oh! There were multiple pages to the menu. What a selection!

' _Looks like someone has a sweet tooth.'_ Ah. Right. Despite her attire, there was someone clearly not that sweet across the table. Saiki must've accidentally let a grin pass by his notice. This was quite bad, it wouldn't be good if an assassin learned that he could be bribed by cake. Then again… free cake. No. That would be more trouble than good, Saiki. Resist it.

In the corner of his vision, Saiki could see the waitress from earlier be pulled aside by a fellow waiter that flinched upon seeing Neo. Saiki didn't have the lack of tact to eavesdrop on conversations, he would have to actually focus his hearing for even the small distance across the store. It was a shame that his telepathy was automatic.

' _It's Neo. That's not her regular seat, I hope she isn't mad…'_ The waiter thought whilst explaining the situation to the waitress. Thinking about it, she was probably a new hire. Sneaking another glance, he did a cartoonish double-take as he spotted Saiki. ' _She actually brought company?! Guess I have to tell Draun to make two of her specials… But does the other guy want it? Ah… I'm curious!'_

' _And I'm not._ ' Saiki refocused his attention back on his menu. He shuffled through his possible options, narrowing his order to a few possibilities as he reached the ice cream flavors. Understandably, he paused upon seeing Neapolitan as an option tucked into the corner of the page. ' _Like hell. Hmm… I'll probably order the Cream Lite Cake… but I should check out the other pages too.'_ Finally opening to the center pages after careful deliberation on every item of the front page, Saiki watched as a smaller menu dropped onto the table. Although it wasn't entirely a menu as it only had a singular item featured: "Try our new ice cream special: Pancakes and Frosting!"

' _What? That sounds a terrible combination. I'll take a note to try that on a particularly daring day. Oh, there's something on the other side.'_

"New Menu Addition: Flavored Jelly!"

…

"Hello there. My name is Branc and I'll be your server today. It's good to see you again Neo. Will you be having the usual again?" The waiter finally said as he worked up the courage to come around and place two glasses of water at the table. Neo tilted her head in a thoughtful façade before shaking her head. She held up the menu and pointed at one of the items on the front page. Writing it down, the waiter turned to Saiki. "And you sir?"

 _Calmly_ , Saiki held up the advertisement for the jelly and _calmly_ pointed a finger at the title words. "And what flavor?" Maintaining his _calm_ composure, Saiki slid his finger _calmly_ to the bottom of the advertisement where it claimed to be paired with a cup of coffee. Tapping his finger in a _calm_ manner, he brought attention to the word coffee.

' _Does this guy not talk just like Neo? So annoying.'_ "Um… are you asking for coffee jelly or-?" Branc cut himself off at Saiki's nod. "Well, that's not one of the options but I'll ask the chef just in case. Is there something else you want besides that in the case otherwise?"

Saiki resisted rolling his eyes and pointed at the strawberry flavor. If he couldn't have coffee flavor, the jelly's flavor didn't particularly matter otherwise.

"Is there anything else?" Branc asked. When both Neo and Saiki shook their heads, he collected their menus before heading into the kitchen. ' _I wonder if they're dating. They're both kinda quiet though, I wonder what the sex would be like.'_

Saiki physically gagged. It wasn't that he hadn't heard thoughts like that before, but considering it was so blatant, and more importantly, that it referenced him, disgusted Saiki. Trying to redirect his attention and Neo's confused stare, he commented, _'You're a quiet person, huh.'_

 _'Well that's because I'm mute. Or I never learned how to talk, either way.'_

 _'Mute?'_ It occurred to Saiki at how normal they treated a conversation in thought. While Saiki mainly spoke in thought, it was never a two-way dialogue, at least not for long. Switching the topic, Saiki, not particularly caring to know why she was mute, asked, ' _So you come here often, then?'_

Neo drew back in exaggerated disgust, much to Saiki's confusion. ' _Is that a pick-up line?'_

 _'Is that seriously a pick-up line here? And I thought_ _Toritsuka was an idiot…'_ Saiki responded, mouth agape, keeping the latter half of his comment to himself. Picking up on the thoughts of the people in the kitchen, Saiki desperately tried to hide his elation that they were going to attempt at his coffee jelly. He needed to stay _calm._ He didn't want Neo to see any way of manipulating him, or even worse, see him smile. The other thought currently circulating the store's staff certainly helped keep him in check.

 _'Neo actually brought somebody? Is it a boyfriend?', 'They look about the same age, they're probably dating.', 'Aw man, I kinda wanted to be the one to ask her out.', and 'Aw, they look so cute together.'_ were some of the thoughts that Saiki heard. The latter-most actually surprised him quite a bit, as someone actually had nice thoughts when seeing someone else's relationship. How rare.

Anyways, it was attracting unnecessary attention from the staff, and it made Saiki anxious. While it would be nice to get the special couple offers that patisseries he attended so often advertised, that would also mean he would have to ask _her_ a favor. Putting that thought completely aside, this establishment seemed to have a fairly large selection. While their quality has yet to be tested, he may very well come back until he finds his way back to his own world. However, if he were constantly treated as a boyfriend, it would attract needless attention and annoying rumors. Rumors that may very well make their way to individuals that could utilize the proof of his existence. And Saiki knew very well how quickly rumors spread even across entire towns, just as how quickly they can die down.

"So." Saiki iterated, at a high enough volume to attract the minds of any curious individuals, "How much of my debt will this pay off?"

As soon as his words had finished processing in everyone's heads, their thoughts quickly drifted back towards other things, now being completely disinterested, outside of a few staff members. Feeling his collar being tugged on, Saiki saw as a phantom Neo, while the fake version quietly leaned back in her chair. Saiki noted that Neo was actually quite adept at controlling perception.

' _What are you saying?! The people here don't know what I do yet!"_ Neo accused.

Her only response was a particularly shit-eating grin from Saiki.

' _Hm. I need to be careful. She's bringing a particularly spiteful version of me, and that would be dangerous for more than just her.'_

' _Oh shit, what's going on over there?'_ A thought roused Saiki from his contemplation. Across the table was Neo holding her hands in a menacing pose in front of her, purposefully using her hair to shade over her eyes.

There was also the matter that the illusory version of her was currently sobbing on the table. Saiki was unable to do anything as a version of _himself_ stood up from his spot and was yelling at her with his finger pointed. He could hear his fake self say, "What do you mean, not at all?! I've been working my ass off here!"

While the content of his faux self was saying sounded as if he had been wronged somehow, their posturing clearly made him out to be the bad guy. Saiki panicked as he looked around the store, people's previously disinterested looks promptly turning into disgust towards him.

Slamming his fist straight down into the table, enough to cause a singular crack running to the edge of the table, Saiki yelled into her mind, ' _What are you doing?! Debt doesn't mean you're a criminal! You're just making everything worse for no reason!'_

His only response was a particularly shit-eating grin from Neo.

Saiki clenched his fist incredibly hard in rage, enough to hear his joints cracking from the pressure. Sitting straight up, Saiki's body along with his hair started looking as if wind was lightly blowing from underneath, causing him to look as if the world was succumbing to his pressure.

Neo casually started drinking her glass of water as she watched the display. She was quite shocked when her illusion was changed against her will and Saiki's copy also proceeded to sob on top of the table. Leaving a transparent Saiki and Neo staring at one another while their fake selves were both crying their eyes out.

Saiki heard the resulting confusion and thoughts of the weird people of the restaurant spread like a plague.

The staring continued for quite a while, neither of them willing to particularly start a conversation. Saiki could still read Neo's thoughts, and was annoyed that she was currently attempting to stifle herself from laughing to preserve a sense of bravado. After a few moments, Neo let their fake selves regain their composure and merge with their real selves. Saiki also fixed the table in the meantime.

Saiki was having trouble of stopping his veins from popping in rage. His hypnosis could not apply to himself, but he just learned that he could manipulate his illusory self. However, he could only do it after Neo had already had her fun. He could only react so fast to something he could barely notice, considering it literally sprouts from his own body. If he wasn't careful, Neo could easily bypass his line of sight and use his fake version for longer than he would normally allow… actually, tolerate. If he had a choice, Saiki wouldn't allow it at all.

A world full of superpowered individuals and he ended up with the one that could manipulate _him,_ of all people.

Branc eventually came back to the table, his expression expertly holding back his apprehension. At least, it would be if he wasn't trying it against a psychic and a trained assassin. He silently placed a plate of gelatinous material in front of Saiki, glistening a pristine dark brown and a mint leaf haphazardly placed as close to the edge of the plate while still being in contact with the dessert.

On the other side of the table, a plate of vanilla frosted lemon cake was slid in front of Neo. At the cake's side was a singular scoop of strawberry ice cream and oddly enough, two marshmallows implanted into it as if to imitate cat ears. While Neo didn't show a single visual sign of it, Saiki heard her inner thoughts in turmoil as she tried and failed to suppress her glee while sitting across from someone who could detect it.

"Your orders… Please enjoy yourselves." Branc announced to the table occupants, currently no longer trying to hide their blank staring at one another. The waiter felt immensely awkward as he tried to escape the situation.

Saiki had stopped the unfortunate soul by grabbing his attention by saying, "Ano…" While his way of saying 'Umm' was unfamiliar to him, Branc turned back towards Saiki, inwardly thanking that Saiki was not a silent individual as well. Saiki continued when their gazes met, "Could I get some whipped cream as well?"

Saiki would hold the store in contempt for simply serving him coffee gelatin without any type of cream, but for now, he would forgive as it was only their first time experiencing a national treasure. If they did it again if he came back, Saiki would not hesitate to start a kitchen fire. Although, now he would have to wait, as professionally-made coffee jelly should be first enjoyed with a sweet side product before dissecting the coffee jelly itself to test how it stands alone. If he did it the other way, Saiki may become disillusioned and that might affect how the complete jelly would influence his state of mind.

In the meanwhile, Neo daintily prodded her spoon into the cake before placing it in her mouth. She kept the spoon in her mouth to help disguise any involuntary grin she might've taken on. While she normally did not order cakes, she suddenly felt an urge for the pure white frosting after looking at the menu item.

Her suppressed delight did not prevent her from noticing that there was currently a spoon floating only slightly above the table. But more importantly, it had a spoonful of _her_ ice cream.

On instinct, she reached her arm out and Neo pulled back on the handle. Looking at her similarly silent dining partner, Neo mentally asked with venom in her thoughts, _'What. Do you think? You're doing?!'_

Neo's dramatic pauses had no effect on Saiki. Honestly, he himself was not doing this entirely on purpose. He had been content to wait for a moment. However, there was a scene in the kitchen that had caught his attention. The two chefs that had made his coffee jelly had taste-tested it before serving and Saiki was unable to hold back all of his contempt for the two when they had admitted their misgivings toward their creation. However, the customer knew best and if Saiki had a problem, they could improve their cooking.

When Branc came into the kitchen and asked for whipped cream, freshly out at his regular service station, the three decided to experiment first and try the dessert with the sweet cream before serving out of curiosity. When their knees began to become jelly themselves out of pure bliss, Saiki's self-restraint snapped.

Against his better judgement, Saiki used his powers to expertly carve a small chunk of strawberry ice cream from Neo's plate to pair with the coffee jelly. It was not the same sweetness that whipped cream would provide but his senses seemed to think otherwise. He did not question how he was able to use his telekinesis so effectively for once.

The power struggle continued, Neo impressively showing hidden strength as she fought valiantly against Saiki's telepathy. Eventually, she had to lean forward out of her own seat to help get her feet better grounding to pull back. Saiki had already prepared a spoonful of his own coffee gelatin while Neo's grip reddened from the effort.

Needless to say it was extremely awkward when Branc arrived with a cup of whipped cream, a butter knife slid under the creamy substance.

Branc spent a good few seconds staring with the occasional blink as it seemed like Neo was currently trying to feed Saiki but doing it very, _very_ slowly.

At the moment Branc got over himself and placed the whipped cream onto the table, he winced as Neo's progress was rudely halted as she flew back into her seat. Her entire expression darkened as Branc fled from the table, afraid for his life.

' _Y-you… bastard… you just…'_ Neo's thoughts erupted along with a controlled blush. ' _That was-!'_

Neo's previous embarrassment was then quickly replaced by stifled giggling when her eyes looked upon Saiki's. Well, at least, as much as she could with his eyes being closed from utter happiness, Saiki's mouth looking as if it was wavy as he enjoyed the small parcel of goods that his spoon delivered into his mouth.

Saiki was too preoccupied to regret not holding back his own expression. The decadent bitterness of newly created coffee gelatin, undisturbed by preservatives and the effects of passing time, made by newer creators, unafraid to christen their dessert with hints of the milk and sugar that people loved to put into the hot brown liquid that veterans would normally avoid.

The texture was suitably unnoticeable, being able to freely move about his mouth even with the slightest provocations of his tongue or teeth. At each contact, pieces of the gelatin pounced off, their little paws of flavor landing on Saiki's taste buds.

The most important part, the combination between the whipped cream and the coffee gelatin, was executed subpar, but that meant that the individual elements of both ingredients combining into a vortex as the coffee gelatin progressively melted was only so much more satisfying. The coffee gelatin was able to repel the flavors until then, leaving deliciously conflicting flavors between the bold bitterness and soothing sweetness only associated with high quality whipped cream.

But once the flavors had collated, it felt as if drinking the coffee and the creamer together, as it was meant to be. The coffee blend used in coffee gelatin also had the added quality of always being in tune with the amount of whipped cream, both melting at paces in the mouth to keep neither one of them from overpowering the other until the very precipice of the bite eventually ending.

By the time he was halfway done with the coffee gelatin, Saiki finally realized that Neo had been oddly quiet. It seemed she was happy with her devilish grin while eating her own platter. He would've made a comment, or an effort to keep himself busy, but instead he took another bite.

From all of his enjoyment, both Saiki and Neo failed to realize the growing commotion outside of the building. Even the thoughts that normally flooded Saiki's mindscape was currently being washed out by coffee flavoring. He could feel as if he was on his own Noah's Ark, swimming up the river of bitter liquid to reach a decadent heaven for desserts. Not even the ice cream demon at his side could not tempt him away from the sheer joy of sweets.

It was as if an angel had entered, giving Saiki a blessing that he had never once had.

At least, until the actual angel walked into the store.

The bell had rung only twice since Saiki's entrance into the store, which still signified the store's popularity considering the short time that Saiki had been inside. However the bell mechanism only needed to ring once, as two guys had themselves planted against the door to keep it open. Another guy walked in and crouched, as if he was welcoming a king into the castle.

But in this case, it was a goddess, or at least, someone who had been blessed by one. Someone far too familiar for Saiki to forget.

As Teruhashi Kokomi walked in, Saiki almost spat out his dessert. As it was coffee jelly, that was not the case.

In other cases, Saiki could be rejoicing. He found one! He could get information from her thoughts. However, he was currently trapped inside a store with people that already were more than familiar with his features and he was shackled to the table until he finished his jelly as well.

Overall, a disastrous situation befitting Saiki's daily life. Heaven would have to wait, as God needed a well-deserved kick in both of his shins.

Neo, noticing the shudder that ran across Saiki's figure, got up from her seat to curtly turn around and stare towards the sparkling newcomer. Saiki caught the fact that even Neo was love-struck momentarily before reality audibly coughed to grab her attention. _'Oh wow...'_

Saiki, still enjoying himself, pleaded, ' _Illusion me! Now!'_

Neo was happy to oblige, changing his appearance slightly, the most she could do with such short notice was an entire color overhaul and a bomber jacket. Green became black, pink became red, and white became a muted orange. _'Mind telling me who the pageant queen is? Also, doesn't she know how to turn off that aura of hers?'_

' _Someone favored by God. And that's an actual aura... not the activated kind you know, don't ever let your guard down…'_ Saiki instructed, taking bites slightly quicker to try and finish. Unfortunately his self-preservation once again lost as he had to enjoy each bite in its entirety. Saiki cursed that the store had given him such a large portion before realizing the stupidity of that statement.

' _I came here based off a recommendation… not that a pretty perfect girl such as myself needs to have a coping method. I only wanted to test if people here were still attracted by me and say "Ofu!"… yes, that's it…wait, it's "Oh wow!" here, right?'_ Teruhashi thought, Saiki sorely unconvinced. Although, there shouldn't be much of a reason that sweets should be a coping method, Saiki thought before realizing the stupidity of this statement as well.

The waitress from earlier began leading Teruhashi to her table for one, much to the disappointment to the crowd. The less dedicated began dispersing while others were content to be on standby. Saiki clenched his teeth as Teruhashi was going to pass by them, and also to chew.

Saiki hoped that Teruhashi wouldn't even pay him even the slightest attention. Of course, his hopes are always unfounded.

' _Are~ Those kind of look like Saiki's hairpins…'_ Teruhashi inwardly commented as she passed by the real Saiki. For now, he was more concerned with that than the waitress's confusion. Unfortunately, that confusion caused a lag in her pace, which prompted Teruhashi to slow down as well. Saiki had to admit that Neo's illusion was well done, as there was little suspicion when it came to Saiki himself. That didn't help the fact that Teruhashi's eyes landed upon his plate.

' _C-coffee jelly? It couldn't be…'_ Teruhashi had stopped walking, and tilted her head to get into Saiki's line of vision, an act that she was all too familiar with how to do.

Before either Teruhashi or Saiki could say anything, a small piece of cake flew towards him. When the frosting started to slowly cover his right lens, Saiki realized that Neo didn't fling an illusory piece of cake. Both of the surprised parties looked towards the direction the cake was flung to see a very smug-looking girl playing with her fork.

Saiki lamented that Neo was so able to change her own appearance so drastically, her pink and brown hair being replaced by black hair done in longer pigtails and her eyes shining an emerald green. Her attire was also changed to a black and white blouse, where even the frills were impressively detailed. The real Neo was currently leaning back in her chair, also playing with her fork, and addressed Saiki, _'Yes, that was necessary. Not really, but it was fun. Oh, and no, this does not make us even. At all. You know you owe me, right? And more than just the cake.'_

Saiki could feel anger once again bubbling up as he wiped the offending cake from his glasses, Neo having his illusory body mimic the motion. Clearing his throat, Saiki changed his voice to be at least two tones deeper, which would startle even the normal passerby with casual conversation. "Ha ha. Very funny, Mimi. I'm sorry, did you need something, Miss?"

Slightly swiveling his body to watch Teruhashi's expression fall at his voice, Saiki had hypnotized the illusion to make it lean onto his own hand.

In response, Teruhashi rapidly waved her hands in front of her in denial, "No, I just had you mistaken for someone else. Oh, and I'm Teruhashi, if you would like to know."

Neo was impressed by how remarkable her fake smile was, it could almost trump one of her own. On the other end of the table, Saiki watched as one of the images of Teruhashi appeared behind her, already used to the fact that Teruhashi visualized herself in her thoughts. With her thought version's expression clearly being frustrated, Teruhashi assumed she was only thinking to herself, _'It's not Saiki! What am I even doing?! I can't get flustered just by seeing someone like him… even if it feels like I've been seeing him all over the place in this stupid place…'_

Never losing her cheery disposition even as she started walked away, Teruhashi's depressed thoughts continued. If Saiki cared, he would've felt immensely sorry for her. However, the pain in his heart wasn't that strong. Saiki thought to himself, _'Well, I have to take responsibility for that… I made a mistake and I'm wasting time in rectifying it by sitting here and eating…'_

Saiki stopped thinking and took the final bite of his coffee jelly. Bliss returned to have him forget himself for a moment before Neo's directed thought roused Saiki out of it. _'Mimi, huh? How cute for someone like you to think of.'_

' _Yeah, yeah.'_ Saiki could tell even Neo was able to ascertain he was sighing in his thoughts. Looking at the impressive illusions, Saiki wondered, _'Anyways, how do we pay the check?'_

'… _...Oh shit.'_

The two of them immediately began their inward panicking, neither of them showing it on their exteriors. Neo knew it was futile either way, since Saiki could still pick up on it. Her panic only stressed him further. The store didn't know their fake selves, and Neo unintentionally shared with Saiki that the employees also didn't know her semblance, and that she wanted to keep it that way. Saiki looked kind of similar, but there is no way the waiter wouldn't question the overhaul in appearance. They both immediately knew dining and dashing was out of the question.

Both of them wanted to come back after all. Both of them also swore to never come with one another.

' _I could kill her. Make it look like an accident.'_ Neo answered.

At that moment, Saiki was reminded just who he was sitting with, someone willing to kill over cake. Well, it's not like he wouldn't but that was beside the point. All Neo got in return for her answer was a serious glare. _'No. Out of the question.'_

' _She's important to you, lover boy?'_ Neo rhetorically asked in thought, starting to share an annoyed state with Saiki.

' _Not really. I dislike her, and she's been an eternal annoyance.'_ Saiki replied, his answer pointed towards shippers as much as it was towards Neo. Before Neo could protest, Saiki continued, _'But I have jurisdiction over her. Also, I'm sure neither one of us wants to have Ozpin chasing after us if he realizes that his pet project didn't die by accident.'_

Neo's eyes dramatically widened. _'Ozpin?! What the?! You are explaining! Now!'_

Despite receiving a particularly pointed glare from Neo, Saiki denied, _'Later. For now, we need to pay!'_

' _You're gonna pay, alright… so many people giving Twinkle over there special treatment.'_ Neo pouted, a hint of jealousy in her tone.

Saiki brought his hand up to clutch at the bridge of his nose. He was an idiot. _'Okay, I figured it out…'_

Saiki had been too busy thinking about Neo's ability that he forgot about his own. He had been using hypnosis only to manipulate the illusions. But he forgot that his hypnosis could choose its recipients. After applying their fake selves to only Teruhashi's vision, he used both of his selves to call over a waiter and ask for the check.

' _What are you…'_ Neo's question was silenced as the waiter began addressing Saiki, _the real one_ , through her illusion.

"Yes, sir?"

"Check, please." Saiki echoed his deeper voice for Teruhashi but his established one for everyone else.

"Of course, I'll be right back."

' _Y-you can control who can see my semblance?'_ Neo curled her lips in pleasant surprise. That was an extremely nifty ability to have in tandem with her own, like a next stage of evolution. And then she realized that it didn't particularly matter. The two of them weren't ever going to work together and they most certainly did not get along.

Saiki was ignoring Neo's situation in favor of information collection. Despite a rocky introduction, this was a golden opportunity to figure out the situation with his friends… classmates. Before any assumptions, Saiki is _not_ a tsundere. What a dumb idea.

Saiki eventually tired of Teruhashi's thoughts after a few seconds of her only wondering about him. Love gets in the way so often. Especially when its target is impenetrable by psychic powers. Even if Teruhashi was smarter than most people he knew, Saiki did not hesitate to begin directing her thoughts.

' _ **I wonder how everyone else is coping…**_ _I mean, Ozpin's been really nice to us... but this is still way above my head. Kaidou's been having so much fun because he's weird, isn't he worried, at all?! As soon as he heard about huntsmen, he all but signed us all up for it.'_

' _Wow. I'm actually kind of sad that it was so predictable.'_ Saiki commented.

' _But getting us into the school?! Seriously?!'_

Saiki choked on air. _'Oi. That 'school' is for college-age! We're in high school… sort of.'_ Saiki's eyes shifted when he realized that they would probably be close to the age of graduating from university if Saiki didn't reverse the time on the entire Earth to prevent the calamity from destroying Japan… Oh shit.

Without him there, Japan would be sent into the dark ages from the eruption. Great. Now he had a _time limit_.

Before he could fully grasp that fact, Saiki refocused on Teruhashi's thoughts. _**'Like how did he manage that?!**_ **'**

That might've been too impulsive, Saiki put too much emotion in that planted thought. Thankfully, it didn't seem Teruhashi noticed, although she got worked up a bit herself.

' _Yeah, seriously! Ozpin said it would be okay if we went to a branching academy for people our age! He wouldn't have ever considered otherwise if Kaidou didn't unlock his stupid semblance…'_

Saiki blinked, before asking a curious but bored Neo, _'How long does it take to find a semblance?'_

Neo was startled for a moment by suddenly being 'talked' to again. Saiki ignored her question as to where his thought came from, Neo figured it out quickly afterwards. _'Her, huh? Uh. On average, after an aura gets unlocked it could take a month to even a few years if they're slow. The average is a few months.'_

' _I'm guessing a day or two is unnatural.'_

' _A day or two?!'_ Neo's gaze shifted in surprise towards Teruhashi. _'Really?! Are you sure she didn't just show signs of it? Learning and finding are slightly different. But still, that's unheard of! Is she a prodigy or something?'_

' _Not her, although she's special in more troublesome ways.'_ Saiki corrected before Teruhashi's thoughts grabbed his attention.

' _Is teleportation even that important?! He was screaming like a kid when he did it at first and then he started teleporting all over the place. At one point, he left the room and came back soaking wet. Actually, that was kind of funny when he realized he teleported over the ocean.'_ Teruhashi thoughts recommenced after she made her order. Saiki refused to comment on the fact that she ordered a Cream Lite Cake.

' _Okay… God thinks he's funny by giving Kaidou Shun the power of shunkaidou(teleportation), huh. Not laughing. No one is, no one will.'_ Saiki retorted to himself.

Branc, at this point, had returned with the check. He cleaned up their plates and left the table so the two could discuss payment. Looking at the prices and interrupting his current information session, Saiki was happy to find the prices for relatively cheap for what they ordered. He was even given a discount for helping them discover a new menu item. Reaching into his pockets to pull out whatever lien he still had on hand after his earlier shopping/stealing spree, Saiki counted out the exact price of his food and tax. Tax here also seemed minimal considering the virtual army that they were stockpiling. Maybe it was just the store. Economy should not work that way.

Pushing the plastic tray with the bill towards Neo, Saiki tried to attune back with Teruhashi. His gold mine of information was temporarily interrupted when Neo immediately pushed the tray back towards him.

Saiki stared at Neo, who was giving him a smug grin. _'Favor one.'_

Saiki internally grumbled as he paid the full price of Neo's food, almost double the price of his discounted jelly. Tax was small here, but now Saiki didn't even have enough if he was forced to pay for it again. Pushing it back, Saiki ordered, _'And you can call him back. What I'm doing could help both of us so don't you dare pull the favor thing again.'_

Neo stuck out her tongue playfully as Saiki once again tuned his signal away from her. It seemed Teruhashi's thoughts had already drifted away but at least not towards himself again.

' _I didn't want to sign the contract… I can barely even read the English of the thing! Even a perfect pretty girl such as myself isn't fully fluent with the language, even if I've been translating this whole time…'_

Once again, Saiki found himself respecting Teruhashi, she was doing his translation job while he wasn't there. And apparently she knew conversational English despite having only minimal interfacing with the language. Impressive.

Wait, what about a contract?

Still lost in thought, Teruhashi didn't need any prodding from Saiki as her mind went back to the topic anyway. _'It felt wrong not signing after both Kubo… Kubo… Kubo-kun and that pervert signed it. I'm almost tempted to get Kaidou to teach me how to do those puppy dog eyes. I didn't even know he had it in him.'_

' _Neither did I. Guess our lone wolf regressed in evolution.'_

Teruhashi dug her face into her arms in exhaustion, _'Stupid other world. What's so important about us?! I used my charm on some guy to figure out the stupid power thing when we showed up but it's not like any of us did that! We don't need to be heroes… I just want to go back home.'_

Saiki began feeling guilty, uncharacteristic of himself, especially when it concerned Teruhashi. His mistake with Nendou sent them here. His thought prodding is what started the train of thought that currently had Teruhashi on the verge of tears. If her fan club knew, Saiki wasn't sure even his psychic powers could protect him from their wrath.

' _The term starts tomorrow and all the older kids are already flooding in. We're not prodigies… well, Kaidou and the pervert excluded. The contract said we would be okay with being huntsmen, but it only said we would have to complete the initiation phase. Afterwards, I'll request to drop out. I don't want to get killed…'_ Teruhashi began shuddering. Saiki bit his lip as fear started to cloud her thoughts.

Branc had long since had their check paid. They were free to leave, and Saiki started to make his way towards the door. Neo silently trailed behind him, curious but willing to be patient.

Teruhashi felt a hand on her shoulder. Quickly wiping her forming tears, Teruhashi turned around to find Saiki smiling back at her.

When the bell rung indicating the departure from the store, the ghostly apparition of Saiki was dismissed, leaving a wide-eyed Teruhashi.

Outside the store, Saiki let go of his held breath, the cold night air entering his system. _'My way of apologizing. I wish I knew what her parents looked like… it was between me and her brother and it's not hard to realize who would be more comforting.'_

Saiki vowed to never let anyone realize what he did, like Teruhashi said, we weren't heroes.

Letting Neo retake the lead, Saiki stood still in the brisk air before following her. It was about time he got this over with.

At least, after he pulled himself and Neo into the conveniently placed alley. Pulling her by the collar, Saiki took the both of them around the corner as the bell of the sweets store rung once more.

Running out, much to the surprise of everyone, as everyone had their eyes on her, Teruhashi desperately looked around. Presumably for Saiki's doppelganger.

Saiki didn't understand what urged her to do something straight out of a cliché romance manga, even if she was a parody of some of the tropes. He only let himself relax when Teruhashi re-entered the store, who was smiling for some reason he couldn't understand. Saiki did know that the onlookers would have been forever grateful for seeing Teruhashi genuinely smile. There was a different aura about it.

' _What's the big idea?!'_ Neo kicked Saiki out of his stupor. Flailing her legs around, Neo did not like the fact that he was holding her by the collar. And especially not the fact that Saiki was easily lifting her above the ground.

Regaining his stoic expression, Saiki dropped Neo, with a satisfying noise as her white boots landed on the ground.

"What's the big idea, huh?!" A voice demanded, causing Saiki and Neo to look down the alley before they could resume any type of conversation. Their gazes came into contact with a large group of people that looked too ridiculous to be anything but punks.

All seven of them looked quite pissed off, as well.

Saiki would've apologized and been on his way, and Neo would normally just let her semblance confuse them away, but neither of those plans would work. Saiki knew that their posture and thoughts, outside of one of the group, were itching to have a fight. Neo just didn't like the fact that they hung around her sweets spot and saw her face.

Turning to face each other, they both thought simultaneously, _'You take care of it.'_

Both of their faces turned into ones that showed their cynical expressions.

' _I don't do fights.'_ Saiki admitted, while blocking a poorly executed right hook to his head with his bare hand. Why do punks have to always go for the guy first? Some sort of pride thing? Quickly after blocking, Saiki slid his arm to shift his arm to deflect, tipping the guy off-balanced just like his haircut and towards Neo.

' _Oh, so you're gonna make the little girl do it?'_ Neo asked, trying to make herself sound cute. In faux disbelief at Saiki, she stumbled backwards as Mr. Off-balanced tried to use the momentum to roundhouse kick her in the head. It would be quite unexpected from a simple street punk but neither Saiki nor Neo fit into the norm anyhow. Neo dodged under the foot and swept with her back leg to topple the guy to the ground.

' _Like you can even play that card. At all.'_ Saiki rolled his eyes as Neo heavily stomped her boot into the guy's chest. As if to avenge his friend, another guy, this one with an absurd orange Mohawk, swung a baseball bat at Saiki's head. It failed to make contact as Saiki bent backwards at a blinding speed into a pose more fitting in limbo games. Using his telekinesis without restraint, Saiki spun Mohawk's baseball bat faster so he would become a living tornado aimed at Neo.

' _A girl can try.'_ Neo shrugged. Before the human tornado got close to her, Neo punched Mohawk in the throat and stopped most of his momentum. In combination with the dizzying spin, the impact dropped him to the ground. ' _But seriously, you do it. I'll make it count towards the favor count.'_

' _Weren't we already even? And do what, exactly?'_ Saiki responded, raising an eyebrow.

It was Neo's turn to roll her eyes. _'Beat up the…'_ Even Neo's mind went silent when she looked down the alleyway.

Instead of the five remaining punks, it was now deserted of all life. The only moving thing was a trash can haphazardly kicked aside and rolling on the floor. If Neo didn't know better, it felt like the trash can was laughing.

' _I started talking in their heads and made them believe they were even more scared than they were.'_ Saiki confessed. He held back a grin when Neo unintentionally thought that their opponents fleeing wasn't even an option.

Neo threw her arms up in the air to exaggerate her annoyance. ' _Gah! That doesn't count, then!'_

The two began walking back to the brick apartment, both of them eager to argue with one another with taunts and insults. Saiki was so engulfed with annoying Neo that he never realized why one of the thugs didn't seem like they wanted to fight at all.

\- Ψ-

Running into a dead end, he began ruffling his ornamented hair to a more unkempt state. Taking off his biker jacket in favor of his plain red shirt to breathe easier and the discomfort of having so much metal on his torso, he sighed in relief.

He didn't know why, but he was damn _terrified_ of those two pink-haired people. The fear was only made concrete when they took out their two aggressors with so much ease that it was like they were handling disobedient children.

It certainly helped that they did all of that without even turning away from one another. The two of them were just staring at each other as if they were having a silent conversation. There was no way he could even comprehend two people being in sync enough that they wouldn't even need words to connect.

The girl was scary, but the way the guy handled himself as if he purposefully didn't harm to make the girl do all the aggression for him was much more frightening. Background knowledge also helped a little.

Pulling out his scroll, he dialed a number. After a few rings, no one heard the still scared individual greet the receptionist over the phone.

"Hello, this is Huntsman Krane. He probably isn't expecting a call so soon, but tell Ozpin that it isn't about the undercover work. It's something else. Yes, I'll hold."

* * *

 **Post-Chapter Note: Yes, this chapter is mainly just them eating dessert. While RWBY has its smaller moments, Saiki Kusuo is almost entirely composed of them. Considering it's still the introductory phase, the more plot-heavy elements would obviously make themselves more well known. However, writing Saiki shouldn't be a matter of just making the guy just look really cool and do all sorts of hero things to make people acknowledge him. It's a slice of life student comedy and it probably will stay that way for a while. I doubt the manga author would change that formula any time soon, whenever he probably gets bored he would probably introduce a new character over switching towards action.**

 **However, that doesn't mean that action should be devoid in a Saiki Kusuo fictions, especially in crossovers. Always that middle ground between one of the shows and the other.**

 **Alright enough with the useless preaching, and onto talking about the chapter delay. I'm going to start with a disclaimer that I have no idea if or when a hiatus like this or longer might happen. Not making excuses, but life did catch up to me for a bit and I'm trying to get back into the groove again. I'm surprised that the story got as many views as it did, and I should probably be responding to the review more than I have. They were all encouraging, even the favorites and follows and probably the only reason I actually got back around to this.**

 **So thanks in no particular order to: Purriah, Nyanyoi, KoaNLaG, khysim. AmethystMacchiato, ad, pltrgst, doa570047, Peachcandy, Nobody67, 9, Raygha Raikouga, CKLMF, Hakel Fury, and two unnamed Guests.**

 **I will admit that I did spent an unhealthy amount of time working on other fanfictions that probably will never see the light of day unless I ever get past the first chapter. I want to have at least one or two chapters in storage to prevent people from waiting. With RWBY, I started on a Cartoon Network(Fusionfall) and a separate Jojo's Part 4 crossover. On Saiki's end, I only barely wrote a few pages with One Punch Man and Assassination Classroom.**

 **Honestly, I should stick with what I've got. I was planning to have a double-length chapter to help make up for the pause, but I only got halfway through the second half before realizing I should probably confirm that I was still willing to continue.**

 **And so, dessert chapter. With an added scene at the end that I had not planned until I cut the chapter in half. And now, it's probably going to be important in the plot. Probably.**

 **Finally, next time(the other half) on _A Disastrous New World for Saiki Kusuo:_ Fire, and more fire.**


	5. Chapter 5: Your PSIgnature Goes Here

Saiki was standing with his arms crossed. When his X-ray vision finally pierced the outer layers of the building, there hadn't been much change.

Well, other than the two new occupants.

' _Is one of them the guy that uses his orange hair to cover one of his hideous eyebrows?'_ Saiki questioned Neo directly in her head.

' _Oh, is that what's under there~?'_ Neo teased back, knowing full well that Saiki wouldn't be fooled by that lie.

Saiki's amusement stayed at its current level. None. _'I'm supposing that the girl with flashlights built into her dress is this Cinder you're talking about.'_

Neo's expression soured, albeit the only change being a slight curl to her lips. Despite the short time they had spent with one another, Saiki could at least tell when she was annoyed.

He needed a way to know that his payback was working, after all.

' _Glowing yellow cloth embroidered into her red dress?'_ Neo asked, eyes drifting towards nowhere in particular.

' _Then they're in. Does Roman have a temper problem?'_ Saiki wondered after giving his confirmation. Neo was curious enough to turn towards him for her answer, even if she didn't need to. Habit, they both supposed.

' _That and a smart mouth. Why?'_ Neo raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

' _Because he's currently kicking down stuff like an angry kid.'_ Saiki divulged, pointing his right index finger towards the third-story room that the man was currently in. _'I'm quite surprised that hat is staying as still as it is.'_

Neo hadn't paid attention towards the latter comment, instead opting to rush towards the door. _'I have stuff in there! Dammit!'_

Neo nearly ripped the door off of its hinges. The noise as it hit the door stopped reverberated far enough that Saiki could hear it. The esper wondered what could possibly be inside that was delicate enough to break, maybe it was her teddy bear or something.

Before Neo could run inside, the door slammed shut again inches away from the tip of her nose. Saiki watched as her posture straightened as she slowly turned to face him.

The death glare he was currently getting wasn't even close to the amount of mauling that Neo's mental image of Saiki was receiving.

And so, Saiki did the only thing he should do in that situation and continue to stare blankly at her. They were both adept at the art of the staring contest at this point.

' _Don't bother the neighbors.'_ Saiki thought to break the tension, if not the silence.

' _Your death will be swift.'_ Neo threatened before opening the door again. Walking inside, without ending her constant glare at Saiki, continued, _'And it will hurt. And hurt.'_

' _Nice vocabulary there.'_ Saiki thought to himself, finding himself thoroughly satisfied. As Neo began running up towards the staircase, Saiki finally made his own personal progress by walking up to the door. Left ajar by Neo, Saiki slid his body through the gap in the door, out of laziness to fully open it. By the time he closed the door behind him, Neo had already climbed the full distance and was controlling her limited panting before entering her boss's room.

Seeing his own path was clear, Saiki floated himself gently over the stairs. While it wasn't unnecessary, Neo was no longer 'escorting' him and he'd preferred if no one would hear his footsteps. He hadn't made it past the first flight of stairs before hearing the conversation begin upstairs.

Looking upstairs as he climbed, Saiki got his own view into the room. Before his X-ray vision cut away at their clothes and flesh, he saw Cinder, in her incessantly complicated fire-themed dress, standing in the center of the room. Roman was the guy in desperate need of a balanced haircut and manners to take off his hat when inside. Other than that, he was at least dressed somewhat professionally in a white suit.

His professionalism did not show through as he decided to still kick at the couch even as Neo made her way inside.

The apartment room itself wasn't nearly as old-looking as the rest of the building's rooms. The apartment was primarily decorated with a light orange carpet with white wallpaper. There was a door leading away from the living room, mostly adorned with a black leather couch facing a glass coffee table and what Saiki presumed was a television. The glassy surface and complete lack of frame drew some hesitance from him, however.

The walls were fairly plain other than a singular landscape painting, and the room connected into the kitchen, and was fully visible from the living room. The two rooms were only cut off by a chest-high counter. There was only one door, Saiki presumed it led to the bedroom. A room which Saiki felt no reason to look further into.

"Oh, welcome back Neo. How'd your end go?" Roman asked, his tone deflating from his earlier and very loud complaints about some robbery gone wrong. After seeing Neo slightly tilt her head and smile, he continued, "Well, it went better than my end at the least. I need to get henchmen that can't be beaten by a little girl."

Cinder looked at him in annoyance, "It might've been better that way. Even if you are a failure, Goodwitch was nearby enough and it wouldn't have been as easy to escape from her if you weren't already in the airship."

Saiki got an idea of Cinder's personality from her condescending thoughts of too little importance worth mentioning and the fact she said he was a failure instead of just saying he failed.

Meanwhile, Neo began approaching Roman with the still ever-present good-natured smile. It was actually somewhat humorous to hear Roman progressively panic as Neo got closer. _'I-I didn't break any of her stuff, right? She didn't leave much, just a few snacks and that cup…'_

Saiki looked forward to his punishment as the memory of an intricate pink shot glass crashing onto the floor popped up in Roman's head.

Neo didn't even need to check the kitchen's trash can to tell what Roman did. After grabbing and excessively twisting the arm that he tried to calm her with, Neo dropped Roman to the ground by kicking the backside of his left knee.

Saiki made sure not to blink before he watched Neo bent more than a few joints out of place, just shy of being broken but tearing muscle tissue as much as she could to deliver as much pain only stopping before it crippled him. It was disappointing when his X-ray vision was on the final bone layer, Saiki unable to see any more of the gruesome details, only the uncomfortable positions.

Saiki had yet to drop to the ground, still hovering above the ground by a few centimeters, when he was directly outside of the room. He may have been paranoid about the footsteps, but Saiki knew his carelessness is what caused this entire mess in the first place. Closing his eyes to reset his x-ray vision, Saiki informed Neo, _'Whenever you're done, I'm already outside. You remember our deal, right? Powers stay secret, I reveal on my own terms.'_

Neo released her death grip(s) on Roman, Cinder perfectly willing to watch Roman get hurt. Sadist. Wait, sadists. The one that actually knew Saiki replied, _'Fine, whenever you're ready.'_

As Saiki turned the corner to enter the room, avoiding the door Neo had once again left open, he was privy to listen as Neo suddenly had an inspired idea. _'Well, I can't tell them your powers so you can go ahead and show them.'_

Before he could protest, Saiki saw Neo turn in a surprisingly realistic feigned alert. And when others prone to violence see an ally react in such a manner, then they of course, would attack on instinct. If Saiki had just walked in, it would've already presented alert from Neo's criminal friends but it was her feigned panic incited action.

Saiki glanced below his feet on instinct in reaction to Cinder's subconscious, unfortunately noticed by said fire user, before the ground he stood on erupted in flames. Roman would've pointed the back end of his cane to shoot an explosive round, but he was still reeling in pain on the floor.

Cinder regretted that she may have put too much force into that. She was by no means a jumpy individual, a trait that would surely get her punished if it stuck, and people more often needed to suffer not die. The fire she just started was powerful enough to instantly graze the ceiling upon creation. The sheer temperature rise could scorch wood into ash in less than a second if placed near the epicenter.

Which left Cinder completely shocked, but already contemplating, as the flames split open to allow Saiki safe passage forward. He was quickly patting away at the remaining flames stuck to the sleeves of the jacket he was still wearing around his waist.

Before Saiki could telepathically tell Neo to quit it, she already motioned off Roman who seemed to understand her perfectly.

The direction Cinder's attention seemed obvious as she stared at the tied up jacket on his waist. _'That jacket…'_

' _Great. Those idiots really have been noticeable. Only Teruhashi would get a free buy here…_ ' Saiki thought.

"Neo? Who the heck is Pinky over here?" Roman questioned as he waved his cane lazily, from the lack of feeling in his wrist, in Saiki's direction.

' _Pinky? Did Neo get her name from him? It certainly is an easier nickname to say than 'Ice Cream Kid' or something…'_ Saiki pondered, straightening his green-tinted glasses as they fell slightly down his face during the scuffle.

Neo shrugged. Taking a moment to think of possible ways to actually explain the situation, she was saved the trouble by Saiki. He did make a mistake by habitually speaking in Japanese initially.

"Watashi… err, you can call me Sai. And she-" Saiki's eyes glared at Neo, still upset from her actions. Said girl was purposefully averting her gaze towards the ceiling. "-thought that we could work together. Well, it's more like I'm in a situation where I might be forced to."

Saiki stayed relatively vague to avoid any mention of his powers or his other world, because the former would sound presumptuous and the latter to avoid a claim of insanity. He was also addressing Cinder for the most part, ignoring Roman's presence, which did not go unnoticed by any party in the room. Cinder and Roman both understood that Neo probably told Saiki of the hierarchy here.

While Roman was unhappy with said fact, he understood Neo's mindset well enough to know she wouldn't have brought anyone here unless there was something clearly special about them.

Crossing his arms, Saiki began tapping his index finger against his elbow. "Well, you already know I'm here for a reason. And I'm willing to share, if you are."

Saiki blatantly lied. While he wasn't used to bargaining, there was little doubt that his telepathy wouldn't be able to handle the situation on its own right. Currently, he was battling in a game of wits against an opponent that could most be compared to a salesman.

Cinder's eyes became slits as she observed Saiki. He didn't enjoy admitting it, but it had felt slightly unnerving. _'So that's how you want to play it?'_

Saiki wasn't sure what he was playing. If this was a game, he demanded a refund.

"Neo, why'd you even bring this guy?" Roman asked, getting frustrated by the intrusion into his home. His question also temporarily interrupted Cinder before she spoke, not that he noticed.

The girl that he called for was currently rifling through the fridge in the kitchen. Popping her head over the counter, barely tall enough for her shoulders to still be visible, she gave a confused look towards her boss. _'Hm?'_

Rolling her eyes away after recognizing the question being asked, Neo met Saiki's gaze. She pointed at him with an accusatory finger, _'You work out the details. I'm getting juice.'_

It didn't help that Cinder currently held the trump card when it came to information in this conversation. She recognized his school uniform's jacket even when his classmates had only been here for a short while. His classmates made a lot of noise in the world if people were catching on to their beat, but Saiki didn't even know if they were playing jazz or static.

Metaphors aside, Saiki paid full attention when Cinder was given the chance to speak, "So Sai, was Adam the one who sent you?"

When Saiki physically made himself look confused, Cinder tapped at the sides of her forehead. "Aren't you a faunus with the White Fang?"

' _Those raiders from earlier? Why would she think I'm a…'_ Saiki stopped thinking upon realization why Cinder tapped at the side of her head. His hairpins did look really out-of-place, and in this world, the out of place antennae-like objects would label him as a faunus. To make sure, Saiki asked Neo, _'Did you think I was a faunus, too?'_

Neo, juicebox in hand and body in chair, replied, _'You aren't?! You're just that much of a bug, normally?!'_

Saiki subsided his current anger. Being labeled as a bug faunus gave him an explanation for his hairpins. Although being thought of as part-bug seriously bothered him. Ignoring the irony of him not being able to read the mind of bugs, Saiki commanded attention, "No, I'm not. I'm on my own terms."

Cinder didn't look pleased when she demanded, "And what makes you so arrogant to believe we're willing to listen?"

While her words sounded haughty, Saiki immediately cut away that verbal layer. Rather than respond to the real question posed at him, he skirted around the issue, "Would it help if it's not of arrogance but of unfortunate necessity?"

Saiki had been ready to respond with "The reason Neo brought me was blah blah blah." However, Saiki wasn't comfortable enough with his physical voice manipulation to avoid an undertone that let out that there might be _other_ reasons.

Cinder's gaze narrowed, Saiki knowing that he was testing her patience. But he needed time to think. If he revealed his telepathy here, that was an instant shift in the status quo. In addition to the accident with the fire, Saiki would appear too powerful. If he denied his telepathy and the deal went badly, Neo probably wouldn't hesitate in disclosing it anyways.

Saiki knew that his spectacular entrance wasn't enough to put him as the director of the argument; that role belonged to his conversational adversary. Which left him in the worse position in who can get away with revealing as little as possible.

At least it would be, if his questions didn't prompt their thoughts to answer truthfully for them.

"A necessity, of wondering if you could provide a way of dampening or isolating power shifts from detection." Saiki explained, focusing his listening ability on Cinder's thoughts.

' _That's out of my ability to offer right now, but if it's only out of the headmasters' radar, it wouldn't be difficult to arrange.'_ Cinder's thoughts gave Saiki some solace. That was as much as he needed, he could deal with the odd passerby or two. That solace didn't last long. _'But why would he need something like that unless he had something that has to go unnoticed…I need to get him to tell me what. That little show with the fire isn't passable enough to be something that would need a dampener.'_

' _Drat. I let out too much.'_ Saiki felt uncomfortable how Cinder was able to determine he was hiding the full truth so quickly after his appearance.

"Hiding power shifts, hmm?" Cinder echoed Saiki's question. Neither of them thought the conversation was moving slower than normal, but for Saiki, thoughts added an extra additive to every sentence. "That's far too broad for me to give an adequate reply, what kind of power are we discussing here?"

Saiki was glad for his telepathy for once. While he would wear the germanium ring in his pocket whenever he wanted the peace and quiet he wished for, Saiki accepted that having telepathy helped him achieve his background character status.

And in this case, helped him get the answer he needed. Not that Cinder could possibly hide his power fluctuations, but that it could be done at all. If he could find his own way, Saiki could independently work on getting home, like he wanted to all along.

But there was still a secondary matter to address.

"One that requires me to enter Beacon Academy whenever I wanted to." Saiki knew that answer was vague, and if they thought about it as long as they should, there were far too little circumstances where it would make any logical sense. But it was those first thoughts the psychic needed anyway.

' _Beacon?! Is this about the Fall Maiden?! No… that should be impossible…'_ Cinder thought, her demeanor not reflective of her momentary shock. Saiki became worrisome that her unexpected thought process would distract her from thinking about an actual path to get into the school. His worries, by a rare moment of having good fortune, went unfounded. _'Beacon is impossible to get into without Ozpin knowing, I planned to transfer from Haven to avoid that trouble. I can't simply get him in.'_

Before Saiki could get disappointed, Cinder's assessment continued, _'But he could get into that school by himself, if he really belongs in the same group as the Atlas children. No doubt Ozpin would get him enrolled, and I could delegate Neo to keep an eye on him. Ozpin would take an extra student if it meant satiating his curiosity… wait, but why would he need to know how to get into Beacon if he's trying to hide? Thinking about it, that wasn't even one of his terms, just another annoying vague statement.'_

Saiki was glad that both subconscious and conscious thinking took as little time as it did, no one would think anyone could read their thoughts as quickly as they came out. It's a good thing Saiki was well practiced, enough to do so with multiple parties.

"If you're planning on working with us, Ozpin's academy isn't a place to tread lightly or without supervision." Cinder's tone darkened along with her expression. Saiki, however, didn't particularly care. They didn't have ready access to the school and could offer him only a way of isolating his power signature. It wasn't a bad deal, but it would probably leave Saiki in a situation where he would need to participate in some elaborate schemes.

"I'm fully aware." Saiki responded. While he wanted to end negotiations at this, he needed to do so amicably. Even if it's not a big organization, Saiki didn't want the force of a criminal syndicate after him. Especially if they hire people like Neo.

It would be too suspicious to end it so quickly after negotiations started, so Saiki continued, taking advantage of Cinder's misconception that he had said a statement, "But that's my problem to worry about."

Knowing Cinder probably wouldn't be able to provide if she was going to such lengths to simply get into the school and that fact might ruin talks altogether, Saiki pretended to propose, "I was hoping for a portable dampening device to help me with the issue. That's my only condition here."

' _I can't do that. But I need to get him to reveal more.'_ Cinder contemplated. In response, Saiki prepared to end the conversation whenever she replied.

"That condition can be fulfilled." Cinder said, Saiki aware that she was expertly bluffing. "But when you infiltrate Beacon…"

' _While she's meant to be our fourth member in Haven, I need eyes with him but Mercury and Emerald are already waiting in Mistral.'_

"You will be taking Neo with you." Cinder finished.

"What!" Roman yelled in confusion, taken aback by the sudden change for the end of his deal. Back in the kitchen and with a juicebox in hand, Neo's posture shot upright in bewilderment for the exact same reason.

"Is that all?" Saiki asked with no hints against his neutral tone. At Cinder's nod, Saiki lifted a finger to momentarily adjust his tinted glasses before giving her a hard stare.

"Then I refuse."

This time, Cinder joined Roman in surprise by the brash denial. Neo pretended to wipe away sweat, dodging that metaphorical bullet. This ice cream girl didn't want to like spending time with Saiki.

"Before you get me wrong," Saiki began his fake explanation. Clearing his throat to try and exert some confidence, Saiki stated, "This is a project I need to work entirely independently. I don't expect you to willingly comply, but I planned that any help I provide would be of my volition."

"That lie," Cinder accused quickly, Saiki unable to react as she spoke her thoughts as they appeared. "Proves that you know more about our operation that you're currently letting on."

' _Probably because you thought of it yourself.'_ Neo deadpanned in the background, taking a lengthy sip from the juicebox straw, orange liquid clouding the clear plastic.

Saiki didn't keep his composure as well as Neo had. Still uncomfortable with being read himself, Saiki flinched in response. Both Roman and Cinder didn't let that go by unnoticed.

Their responses were indicative of their natures. Roman, mostly recovered, held the bottom of his modified cane towards Saiki to threaten him with the weapon. As a professional conman, Roman was proud of the fact he could read people, and Saiki had done mediocre in hiding his intentions. At least, until he tried to act confident with his last statement. He was bluffing, or he was lying, but either way, it was too clear. But as a man who lived in the criminal element in Vale, Roman was used to lethal threat to gain information.

Cinder, however, took Saiki's lie as an affront to her own intelligence. Her plans extended far deeper than she planned to have anyone in Vale ever know about. No matter how it happened, the child in front of her got his hands on secret information. The part of his gratuitous lie where Saiki _knew_ that he could help of his own freedom held that clear fact.

And the part where Saiki said he wanted to be independent was also the truth, meaning he found out completely on his own. That he was the only obstacle.

Swiping her hand forward, Cinder aimed an open palm towards Saiki. Following her hand's motion was an elaborate light show sharing the same color as what was embroidered into her dress. _'You might've been able to handle that fire before, but magic, magic is a different beast altogether.'_

Two serpentine patterns of bright yellow flames launched from a pattern formed on Cinder's palm directly at Saiki's torso.

Saiki hated himself. His ineptitude in social conversation actually came around to bite him. Possible literally. But just as any other human being would, Saiki expressed that hatred outwards. And with this esper, that was dangerous.

Pyrokinesis had an odd way of working. He couldn't create blazing fires in an instant like he could with electricity, and with distance, the heat he could work with would decrease. Managing large fires was difficult as well, which is why he needed to prevent any fires from breaking out in his school building. However, the reason for that was the rate at which it spread, not being concentrated in any area.

But when it came to a condensed force of fire energy hurdling at blinding speeds, pyrokinesis could handle that.

Instead of opting to deflect the blast, Saiki let the serpentine flames envelop his right arm and then turned it back upon itself. With his entire arm encased in fire, Saiki took a heavy step and lunged his body directly towards Cinder.

Roman was too astounded by Saiki's speed, looking more as if the pink-haired individual instantly teleported, to turn more than just his head towards where the psychic was in the room now. Saiki barely stopped his right fist before the embers could connect with Cinder's face. Her expression taking on an instinctive fear that she had not felt since coming to Vale.

Rage distracting him from his precaution, Saiki spoke directly into all of their heads, ' _I don't care what's going on. I don't plan to care.'_

As he clenched his grip, the flames around Saiki's arms blazed into a lighter red from its previous yellow. Fear began taking its stay in the atmosphere of that small apartment. _'You want to do your criminal things? Go ahead. If this is how it's like, don't expect me to take part in this. And if you dare to keep bothering me, I won't hesitate to-'_

Doink.

An orange juicebox bounced playfully off of Saiki's head before plopping onto the ground pathetically. A second juicebox, grape-flavored this time, was already in Neo's hands, letting her happily sip away at it.

One of the few emotions Neo felt on a more acute level was fear. The emotion that currently prevented her superiors from making any movements, only amplified when Saiki talked in their _heads._ She probably would be in the same boat as them if she had brought him here directly from the harbor.

But that stupid face he made while eating gelatin, and his sheer panic upon seeing a pretty girl was firmly implanted in her psyche at this point. Neo saw that Saiki could be feared, but abandoned that notion. Saiki was someone to simply mess with for her.

' _Quit being a drama queen. That's my job.'_ Neo commented, slightly swiveling in her unmoving seat.

While neither Roman nor Cinder would probably admit it, they were thankful when Neo's initially worrying action took Saiki out of his anger-induced stupor.

Recomposing himself, Saiki confessed, "I'm sorry. I might be too tired for this. I will leave, but I did mean that I was going to stay a neutral party in this endeavor."

"If you'll excuse me." Saiki bowed at a short angle, and began walking out of the room.

' _You can tell them about my powers.'_ Saiki directed a message specifically at Neo. He determined that the other two were probably not in the best condition to receive that message while they were still recovering their mental sanity.

' _Eh. I'll give you a day. Figure your shit out, neutral party.'_ Neo replied, her shrug going unnoticed by the person turned away from her, standing in the still-open doorway.

' _...Sure.'_ Saiki gave his short answer. When he turned the corner, Saiki teleported.

\- Ψ-

Saiki plopped down onto a recently made bed. He relaxed before berating himself for not thoroughly checking places like this before. With his clairvoyance, Saiki thought the harbor would be the best place. Every motel and hotel room looked to be booked and there wasn't a single home not inhabited or maybe being housesat.

But Saiki had just spent another two hours standing around on another roof. With the lights across the city being turned off in rapid succession, he no longer feared if someone might have seen him teleport there.

Those two hours didn't go by very quickly at all. Saiki felt too apprehensive to 'borrow' a bed or a sleeping bag and tried to fall asleep on the uncomfortable surface.

Normally, this wasn't that much of a problem. Surfaces he could care less about, it was just a luxury, even if it was one he was accustomed to no matter where he was on the planet.

However, his headaches that had been one of the primary causes for staying awake this long at all, was growing worse by the minute. Saiki didn't understand why they kept growing, or what power they were attached to.

After all, psychics didn't get normal headaches just like how psychics don't get seasick. No matter what Chapter 151 might have you guess.

Since he was thrashing about, trying to sleep whenever he could, Saiki ended up giving up every once in a while and checking if he could find a place that he wouldn't be intruding on someone else sleeping or a bed that didn't have surveillance cameras trained on it like at the mall. Something only came about a few minutes ago.

Imagine his surprise and regret when one of the hotel penthouses was completely devoid of any individual.

' _The motel rooms were all taken, but this wasn't…not that I'm complaining.'_ Saiki thought, lying his upper body on the edge of the king-sized bed.

Begrudgingly getting up to dust himself and the bed of roof particles, Saiki took a quick glance at the clock. At the very least, this world still used a 24-hour system. At 23 in the evening, he left that apartment. Now it was 1:28 in the morning. Only the most dedicated of people would be up at this time.

Before he jumped back into bed, knowing he could just reverse time on it to make it look like it hadn't been slept in, Saiki spied a notepad on an accompanying dresser.

Walking over to it, Saiki picked up the pen that was lazily left at the notepad's side. Even if he wasn't as comfortable with using pens, that didn't matter when it came to thoughtography.

Thoughtography was a fairly pointless power, and it came in handy in very few situations. Why did he need to draw wherever he wanted when he could look there directly with clairvoyance? Normally, the reason was that he simply didn't know where the thing he was looking for was. Or if he just wanted to draw really well, which is a situation that has not made itself present yet. He would have used it earlier, but his mind had been overloaded with thoughts about the new world. But now, he wasn't sure if he would be detected if he looked in Beacon again.

Not to mention the amount that could be drawn on a small piece of paper wasn't much to go off of when you didn't know where every single place in the world looked like. A feat Saiki wasn't capable of even on Earth.

Not having distractions mattered because thoughtography would only work if you clear your mind of outside thoughts. Thinking about anything else other than the subject for the entire minute would completely throw off what was meant to be drawn. It messes up the process and projects whatever was thought of instead.

For instance, if you kept thinking about a government gold reserve for completely moral reasons as a thoughtography subject, but you accidentally think of your rich self in the future, the thoughtography would completely change to be the closest super rich person to you. Or, whatever family member of yours was in jail, by matter of consequence.

But since he was tired, and there was little to cloud his mind any more, Saiki closed his eyes to begin the thoughtography drawing. _'Classmates…classmates… classmates… classmates…annoyances… classmates… classmates…'_

After a minute passed, Saiki opened his eyes. Disappointment washed over him when his drawing ended up being wrong.

Understandable annoyance overwhelmed his senses as Saiki looked at a picture of Neo. Already in bed, sleeping like he couldn't.

Okay, so he thought of annoyances instead of classmates, but seriously. Those things were synonyms, and the two words had the same amount of letters. And annoyances was _plural_. Do you understand why his powers are not to be envied yet?

Clutching at his forehead from a particularly effective headache, Saiki sighed before resigning himself to try again. This time, maybe a bit more focused. ' _Kaidou… Kaidou… Kaidou… Kaidou… Kaidou…'_

He would've done Kuboyasu, but that was two extra syllables he could get caught up on, and if he did Teruhashi, people might use it as more shipping material. Saiki also knew he was ignoring Toritsuka's existence.

Saiki breathed in relief when the drawing showed Kaidou already fast asleep. Checking the background, only two details were relevant. There was a notebook near Kaidou's head with the katakana characters for 'Teleport Strategy' on it. The other detail was something that looked like an arm hanging at the very edge of the notepad. If it was a larger surface, maybe Saiki could've seen more.

' _Seems like he's sleeping in the room with someone else.'_ Saiki thought, not that he particularly cared. He just wanted to make sure they were still alive. If Kaidou's resting at ease enough to write that stupid book, they should be fine.

Collapsing onto the bed with an audible compression sound, Saiki tried to let his mind drift away from the pain of his headache. Eventually, he should get used to the pain and his exhaustion should bring him to a nice peaceful sleep.

It had been a long day.

\- Ψ-

 _There was a girl sitting quietly in what looked to be an interrogation room. Her black and red color scheme made her outfit look like it was colored by an average teenager that loved putting those colors together. The silver crosses connecting her hood to her front torso and the stylized silver rose belt buckle didn't do her any favors in trying to look edgy._

 _Her face and demeanor, however, screamed of an excitable adolescent girl, which completely threw off any perception of her trying to look cool for others. The table in front of her had an empty plate with a few crumbs and loose chocolate chips while on the other end, a coffee mug rested in its place._

 _Her silver eyes shone as she spoke, "You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster at Beacon."_

" _Hello." Ozpin replied to her repeating of what the audience already knows. He sat across the girl, with the blonde woman from before standing behind him._

" _Nice to meet you." The girl perkily said._

 _After a small moment of silence, Ozpin asked, "You want to come to my school?"_

" _More than anything." The girl eagerly admitted._

 _After sharing a look, the blonde woman rolled her eyes as Ozpin accepted, "Well, okay."_

 _The blonde woman finally said a word of her own. "Term starts tomorrow."_

 _The girl's silver pupils widened significantly. "Wait, but I've still got another two years at Signal! Aren't I too young to go to Beacon yet?"_

 _Ozpin chuckled at the girl's nervous flailing. "While normally that would be the case, I think the video showed enough to prove that your fighting prowess would be enough for admittance."_

 _Getting up from his seat, Ozpin divulged, "There's already four students only a year older than yourself that are attending. If you don't mind their combat ineptitude, I'm sure you could overcome that nervousness with them."_

\- Ψ-

Saiki woke up in a cold sweat. Most of his dreams were precognitions of events, but with this one, the final statement heightened his headache to unbearable levels. Crashing out of the side of the bed, Saiki heard from outside with his intensely ringing ears, "What was that?!"

While his mind was preoccupied with trying to recover from the pain, Saiki at least recognized that a hotel maid was checking up on the penthouse. Hearing the sound of keys jingling into the lock echo constantly, enhancing his feeling of pain, Saiki weakly placed a hand on the disturbed bed covers to rewind time on them.

Saiki quickly ran past the dresser, picking up his thoughtography pictures on the way to keep them hidden, and threw his pained body into the bathroom. Closing the door behind him, he heard the maid step around to do a quick check of the room.

' _What's going on?!'_ Saiki barely uttered in thought. His head pains were growing worse and now there were voices speaking in his head. Some he recognized as his classmates, one as Ozpin, and also one as that girl from the dream. They grew louder, as Saiki desperately patted at his head.

Both of his limiter devices were still in place, meaning this mental attack was bypassing them and was still at this strength. Slipping in the bathroom, he made impact against the wall of the shower, unable to stop himself from making contact with levitation.

Saiki couldn't even hear the maid's thoughts anymore, his audio clouded with too much noise to shift through. But there was no way she didn't hear that.

His visual department wasn't doing very well either. It felt like someone was flashing a light in his eyes constantly, but Saiki could still see the shower he was in. However, he also saw the interrogation room from the dream, a bedroom for four, and the sweets café all at the same time. They weren't even at separate parts of his visual field. They were all _overlapping_ on one another.

Saiki, in immense pain, could feel himself losing consciousness from the overwhelming pressure. Invisibility would take too long, teleporting required some focus to determine the destination, and stone vision would be too conspicuous and too immoral to actually use.

His impact loosened a small bottle of shampoo and it dropped onto Saiki's head, adding to his pain, even if it was slight. Deciding to desperately replace the bottle back on the ledge it fell from, Saiki noticed the bottle in his left hand wasn't being overlapped with the rest of his vision and he had clear vision of his own body and in his grip.

Saiki couldn't question the phenomenon, his muscles already wearing down from an unknown fatigue. His left hand dropped from the sensual overload, and Saiki meekly held the thoughtography pictures in his right.

Looking at the picture of Kaidou, Saiki almost instinctively thought of teleporting there to avoid detection before realizing that would achieve the opposite effect and to a much higher degree.

Losing his ability to reason, Saiki moved his fingers so the picture underneath would enter his perplexing field of vision.

Hearing the bathroom door open, Saiki didn't have time to be picky.

When the maid looked into the shower, she stared curiously at the rolling shampoo bottle on the floor. She would spend another twenty minutes searching until finding the resolve to call an exterminator to the possible bug infestation. Or maybe it was a new species of mini-Grimm.

Saiki's limp body made contact with another bed surface. At that point, his mind had already given up and one blank. For the second time in a week, Saiki fell unconscious and not on purpose.

* * *

 **Important note for longer time readers: Chapters 1 and 2 have been partially rewritten. There haven't been any major changes, Chapter 1 was only rewritten to make it easier to read. Chapter 2, however, completely changed the way invisibility worked to better fit the manga(I ignored how Saiki can sometimes go invisible instantly) and how he was detected. Since I know some of you don't have the time to go back and reread the same basic stuff, here's the new manga in-line invisibility:**

 **Invisibility: Takes a minute to turn invisible. Grows transparent with time. Still lasts 10 minutes and is broken upon touch. However, the biggest change is that the only power Saiki can use while invisible is telepathy. No telekinesis, teleportation, levitation, or etc.**

 **That's how invisibility is described in the manga during chapters dedicated to it. I'm just going to go ahead and pretend that the times Saiki went invisible instantly like on: the 'date' with Teruhashi, the anime episode about his game, or on the popularity poll chapter where he disappears in front of everyone. Although, that last one might've been a teleport.  
**

 **On another less important tangent, serious chapters are slightly more difficult to write, as Saiki's character doesn't often find himself in actually serious situations. At most times, it's ludicrous situations but Saiki is trying to respond to them in the utmost serious manner. Of course this means that serious chapters make it so that Saiki may feel OOC at times simply because he hadn't been given that many chances to interact in the more cliché battle anime-type plotlines.**

 **By the way, Xtra Large, I'm sure you noticed the comment specifically and critically pointed at you. doa(insertnumbers), the whole dark ages thing is actually established in the chapter where Saiki explains why they've been second years for so long, the thing that was hinted at in the Teruhashi home visit chapter as well. Santa socks, I'm going to apologize, that story is probably the most incomplete of the four, and some of the material could probably be used better for a Saiki only fic. But I'll see if I can think of something. For SilentXD7, I'm happy for the praise!**

 **Next time on** _ **A Disastrous New World for Saiki Kusuo**_ **: Chairs are uncomfortable.**


	6. Chapter 6: Don't Just PSIt There!

**Special announcement at the bottom. No, I'm not cancelling this. That's not it.**

* * *

Waking up with a flailing motion unlike him, Saiki consequently threw off the sheets covering him. _'What was that?'_

Saiki turned his body so he could get off his bed… wait, his bed?

Saiki did a quick double-take, getting a glance at the room. Overwhelming comfort entered him as he recognized his mundane room, filled only with his bed, a desk with textbooks neatly organized on top of it, and with little accessories other than the perpetually breaking TV. Ah, right. Since he had been gone longer than a day, the TV was broken by now, wasn't it?

' _Tch. Was the jelly maker really not worth it?'_ Saiki thought, mourning over his television. Curse people for always spoiling his programs, the reason this mattered at all.

However, Saiki was home. In that crucial moment, he was able to teleport straight home. Now all he needed to do was go back and then snatch his idiot classmates. After that, everything would be right in the world, mostly. They would probably realize he was a psychic, and his TV was now broken. Tch.

' _Guess I'll need to blackma… talk to Dad about that. He owes me too many favors to cheap out now.'_ Saiki thought, while wondering whether or not to go himself and risk being convinced to buy something else. Wait, why was he so insecure? He was a psychic. It would be fine.

…

Saiki brought up both of his hands, fingers extended, and stared at them. Suddenly, the rare urge to cry came over him, manifesting only as an exhausted backwards tilt of his own head. _'I'm not wearing it…'_

The germanium ring was not on any of his fingers, and Saiki would probably notice it if the ring was being worn anywhere else. That ring was the only germanium possession he owned that could block out his telepathy.

So, why exactly could Saiki not hear anyone's thoughts in his telepathy radius despite being in a suburban area?

Begrudgingly walking over to the wall to test his theory, Saiki not wanting to try levitation partially out of fear and sadness, he lazily held up his fist to strike the wall.

' _Yo, what's up?'_

Saiki turned his head quick enough to make the nearby wind sharp enough to cut paper. _'A thought?!'_

Saiki's gaze was met by Neo's, who was currently hanging from his balcony window like she was trying to climb into his room.

The background behind her was a sight that ended up confirming his suspicions. The city of Vale, poorly lit up as you looked further up towards the skyline due to the lack of activated light sources, and all of its non-existent glory was behind Neo.

Well, most of it.

One of the larger skyscrapers in the background, presumably a few miles away from the large antennae-like signal broadcast tower, was in the midst of collapsing.

Saiki's surroundings shifted from his room to the air above the falling structure. Each of the bottommost floors were exploding outwards of all four of its sides, making space for a new ground level.

Towards when one of the upper-middle floors crashed into the pile of rubble underneath it, no longer properly supported, it magnificently exploded, the resulting shockwave taking out a decent amount of the entire block.

 _Sigh…_

\- Ψ-

… _Ugh. That's the precognition I'm used to._

Saiki groggily woke up. This time, the pain was akin to what he felt regularly with precognitive dreams. Compounded onto that pain was the sore muscles from last night's unexplainable escapade, a pain that felt oddly alive. Without any recent memory of situational details, he questioned himself, _'What just happened?'_

' _Oh, the bug's awake now.'_ A thought intruded onto Saiki's state of recovery. Clearing his eyes, Saiki looked up to see Neo staring menacingly at him. She was sat at the edge of her bed, mostly dressed the same as yesterday, only without her boots.

Noticing one of his control devices was somewhat loose and that his glasses were loosely hanging on his face, Saiki attempted to adjust them. His efforts were thwarted upon realization that he was tied several times over to a wooden chair.

His telekinesis only had two modes, excessive force and almost non-existent. At the very least, the latter setting had enough strength to fortify his glasses onto his ears, and one of his control devices deeper into his hair. Saiki wouldn't want to accidently look at someone with his naked eyes and turn them to stone.

Although the esper did contemplate doing so now. Neo angrily complained in thought, _'You know, I gave you a whole day to make up your mind. Cinder even told me to stay a little longer just in case. But that doesn't mean that you can just waltz your way into my bed! How'd you even find this place?! How?! And why my bed?!'_

Before Saiki could even consider giving an answer, Neo stood up and threw her arms into the air out of uncontrollable excitement, _'What?! Do you like me as much as I hate you right now?! If so, you have been denied! Rejected! Other synonyms!'_

' _And… who, or should I say what… are you?'_ Neo asked, her gaze focusing on something far away, as she dropped her arms. Offering further clarification, _'I don't get it… you can see-through objects, manipulate fire and air, manage to sneak your way into my house when you shouldn't even know where it is, control my illusions, and even make some of your own…'_

' _And you didn't even have an aura.'_ Neo's body twitched a little from an exhalation that compared itself to a slight chuckle. _'So you're going to tell me and then die. Or die slower. Much slower.'_

Neo's heterochromatic pupils were finally brought back into reality, and glared at the heavily tied-up teenager in her bedroom.

 _Yare yare…_

' _And if I do not feel particularly inclined to?'_ Saiki responded, sitting perfectly upwards despite being tied up. He's already done this dance more than he would've liked, but he should probably go save a couple of lives from a soon-to-collapse building.

Without any warning, Neo sliced her umbrella's sword through Saiki's neck. Or at least, it looked like it did considering its pathing.

As Saiki continued to sit perfectly still, Neo examined her blade. What was a straight piece of forged steel was now in the shape of a candy cane. Neo's eye slightly twitched looking at her bent weapon, dramatically curved before it was able to get remotely close to Saiki's neck.

'… _Alright, that was your fault, but-'_ Saiki wasn't able to finish his thoughts as Neo, in a fit of controlled rage, tried to pierce the top of Saiki's cranium with the still pointy end of her metal candy cane.

By the time Neo's bludgeoning motion completed, she observed the damage. Once again, only on her weapon rather than her target. Before the tip could try cutting Saiki's hair, the entire top half of the blade had bent backwards as far as Neo swung it.

Leaving the ice-cream assassin mildly upset as she held up a sharp question mark of a weapon. _'…This isn't even a hook sword anymore…'_

Saiki subtly raised an eyebrow. Commenting to himself, Saiki wondered, ' _Why did that sound like crying? Wait, no, besides that, how did she know I did not have an aura? I can't just go back to the whole this is a semblance thing if I do not have the thing that makes a semblance possible anyways.'_

Saiki mentally sighed to himself. His future self will definitely regret this. However, it would be nice to have the he.. hel… hel…. helllll….. help.

Saiki asked Neo, still in the process of moping, ' _What makes you think I don't have an aura?'_

Neo's gaze suddenly looked like it was focusing on something far in the distance, despite never turning her head away from her metal question mark. _'Don't even try and play dumb. You managed to tick off Cinder further than Roman probably ever could, and you're someone I would very much like to catch off-guard and kill some day in the future.'_

Neo smiled a little at Saiki's barely noticeable unconscious flinch before continuing, _'Again, mind reading, air manipulation, illusory control. Even if you had a copy-type semblance, those don't tend to be as powerful as your versions and I doubt there's even a mind reading semblance anywhere.'_

Neo took a moment from her explanation and snapped a finger at her deformed weapon as if to test if the blade still had integrity. However, there wasn't any true purpose. _'So when you ended up defenseless… on my bed no less… I attempted to dissect you.'_

Saiki's pupils hovered over Neo uncomfortably. While she had clearly failed in her endeavor, her word choice made him akin to a corpse or a dead frog in a high school, a comparison that an all-powerful esper would have little experience with. However, if he was unconscious as he predicted, Saiki very well could have died. Naturally, he decided not to interrupt Neo's story.

' _I didn't even get past the first part before I ended up having to question the world because of you. I wanted to test the strength of your aura by flowing mine into your unconscious body to see if I could trigger its activation to its complete form.'_

Neo palmed her face and pushed her cheek into her newly closed eyelids, unable to find a proper motion to represent her bewilderment. _'Imagine my surprise when I ended up activating it.'_

Saiki's pupils grew in surprise. His eyes traced the parts of his body that was not currently obscured by rope. Saiki had felt something remote upon waking up, but he assumed it was only backlash to whatever happened yesterday. That odd sense of life in his pain was probably his newly gained aura.

' _Oh great. This one better not come with a side effect. Oh, who am I kidding, there's probably some defect that makes my aura different from everyone else's…'_ Saiki could feel his exhaustion extend past his physical body and into his very soul.

' _So I'm going to ask again.'_ Neo stated, grabbing Saiki's attention again. _'If you didn't have an aura, then you didn't have a semblance. So who or what are you… if you can do all this shit. And don't you dare hide behind "It's a long story," or "You probably wouldn't understand even if I told you," or… or… or any of that kind of bullshit.'_

The unsteadiness in Neo's very thoughts was enough an indicator for Saiki. What would you do if you discovered there was something that went completely against everything you believed, something that you couldn't deny? Neo was either expertly hiding the fact that her understanding of the view of the world was collapsing or simply was not aware of it quite yet. Saiki certainly thought it did not help that Saiki, by all means, looked like any other person on the street in this world as well as his own.

Well. Saiki did already resign himself on receiving her hell. Err, help.

' _In that case… my name is Saiki Kusuo.'_ Saiki teleported out of the chair into a standing position right in front of it, the ropes that previously confined him limply falling to the seat of the chair.

' _And I am a psychic.'_

A burst of air shot out of Neo's mouth. As she covered her wide grin with her right fist, Neo looked mockingly at Saiki. ' _I'm sorry. Did you think that was cool? It really wasn't. You looked like an idiot. I mean, you are one, but you actually went and showed it. What are you, an edgy teenager with a notebook of his secret powers? No, no, I bet you made a whole portfolio.'_

As Neo's head continued to bounce in her exaggerated silent laughter, Saiki could feel a few veins being popped. Inwardly, he wished that a few of them were Neo's. _'This… little….'_

' _Telepathy. Telekinesis. Pyrokinesis. Teleportation. X-ray vision. Those are a few of the powers that you know about.'_ Saiki added, watching Neo's demeanor not stopping her mockery. At this point, Saiki decided to purposefully mess with this little ray of darkness. _'I also have the ability to change people's heights. I could make you a few dozen centimeters shorter.'_

Neo, already somewhat insecure about her height, an anxiety only off-balanced by how nimble it let her be, retracted her mocking and replaced it with absolute terror. _'Y-you wouldn't dare!'_

Saiki dramatically raised his open left hand towards Neo. Within an instant, she activated her semblance, and her real self quickly grabbed the rest of her umbrella that she had thrown aside earlier. Saiki watched amusingly as Neo hid behind not only her clone but also tucked her entire body behind the open umbrella, swiftly bringing her legs into her torso so that not a single bit of Neo stuck out.

' _Hmm. That's quite a good reaction. Approved.'_ Saiki publicly announced to everyone in the room. Oh. Now that he realized it, this room… is quite creepy. There is not a single thing here that is not white, pink, or brown. A fact only further impressive considering the amount of furniture, besides the basic furnishings, there were a few tricolored wall hangings, a bean bag cushion or each of the three colors, a book cabinet that had book sleeves that alternated between the colors, and an entire stereo system that was appropriately dyed. There was also two brown and white plush teddy bears that Saiki assumed didn't come with the pink and dark brown colored bead eyes. That's… quite a level of dedication. Actually, no. That's just neurotic.

' _Go die a painful death. I would like to be there to watch.'_ Neo thought, an insult that would be taken far more seriously if Saiki could see more than just the top of her head peeking over the umbrella to glare at him.

' _Well, I could probably make you shorter. But it's too much of a hassle, so don't worry about it."_ Saiki's words seemed to deactivate Neo's safety precautions, as she immediately threw her sharp question mark at Saiki.

' _I'm going to repeat myself. Use your psychic powers to bury yourself and suffocate. Please install a camera for me to watch.'_ Neo requested spitefully, an emotion only amplified as Saiki effortlessly caught the remains of her weapon by the blade with his bare hand.

' _What part of that was a repeat?!'_ Saiki retorted. ' _And it is not like you can pretend that you wouldn't do the same if you were tied up in a chair after waking up.'_

' _Well. If the chair was comfortable…'_ Neo instinctively thought. Saiki narrowed his eyes at her nonsensical but truthful response. _'I mean, of course I would. Wait… moving on to the more important question, why were you in my bed, huh?!'_

Faced with Neo's accusatory finger pointing, Saiki thought to himself, _'That's more important than me being a psychic?!'_

' _You saw I was not conscious of my own accord. My powers, or rather one power in specific, had assaulted my mind and I needed a focus for my teleport…'_ Saiki explained, his answer trailing off as he failed to locate his thoughtography pictures in any of his pockets.

' _Looking for these?'_ Neo asked, holding up Saiki's two intricate drawings. _'It was very creepy to find a picture of me and some Chihuahua-looking guy on you, you know? Right now, I'm okay with it because you drew me cute.'_

' _Thoughtography draws things exactly as they are. That's just your misplaced self-confidence.'_ Saiki denied, earning a glare for his troubles. _'Wait. Did you search me?!'_

' _Strip search.'_ Neo added, with a cheeky smile.

A few moments passed, Saiki growing more uneasy by the second. He was patiently waiting for her thoughts to betray her lie with a "Just kidding," or even an "I wouldn't want to touch your body, don't flatter yourself." But it didn't come.

' _Oh~. You look kind of disturbed. What? Is something wrong?'_ Neo's grin grew devilishly larger. _'I guess all this time to practice really paid out, huh.'_

' _Practice? You tied me up to a chair and you practiced making me uncomfortable by saying "Strip search" over anything else?!'_

' _Yup. Totally worth it, by the way.'_ Neo teased. _'I thought you could appreciate it, as a fellow sadist. We just need an M and then we can have a slumber party.'_

Neo relished in Saiki's attempt to hide his discomfort before leaning back onto her supporting arms and freely kicking at the air.

'… _So you're a psychic, huh? I don't really get it, but should I take the fact that you're sharing this with me mean you're gonna go ahead and join our little consort of chaos?'_

' _Consort… oh whatever. No, it doesn't. I'm just calling a ceasefire.'_ Saiki, with his arms crossed, began tapping at his elbows.

' _That ceasefire better not include no insulting. If so, it's my turn to refuse.'_

'… _It doesn't matter either way.'_ Saiki sighed in exasperation before an relatively sane conclusion came to him. _'You wouldn't happen to be planning a bomb to destroy an entire block, would you?'_

' _What? Where did that come from? And no, that's just stupid. Even if an incident like that could happen at all, no professional criminal should be that dumb. I'm insane, and even I get that.'_ Neo shrugged, before continuing her explanation. ' _Doing something like that would inspire a complete crackdown on the underground element, one that might even draw the likes of professional huntsmen and Beacon Academy. Citizens would be scared and they wouldn't mind having their privacy thrown out the window if it meant their safety.'_

Saiki blinked in silent surprise at Neo's reasoning. _'That's scarily competent of you.'_

Choosing to ignore the indirect attack on her character, Neo tilted her head in a way that exuded an aura of 'Duh.' _'Of course I do. I need to know how much I can get away with, after all… wait, why would you ask something like that.'_

' _Because that's exactly what's going to happen sometime later today.'_ Saiki looked out the translucent pink and white draped curtains to the skies. _'I'd say in about one or two hours, if afternoon time still works the way I think it does.'_

Of course, Saiki contemplated letting the event progress. Having criminals under pressure to the point of having to disappear might mean a much easier time navigating this world. However, it would also mean he would have to give up access to a possible black market and his own privacy might be put into question.

Again, Saiki was not a hero. But he was not heartless. It wasn't like he was just going to sit here and let an indeterminate amount of people die in a catastrophe that he could prevent.

It seemed Neo shared his serious enthusiasm. _'Where is this asshole that's going to ruin my fun? Let's go punch his teeth in.'_

' _Why would you believe all of this, let alone help?!'_ Saiki questioned, even if he wanted her help fitting into the world, the esper thought it was pretty clear they did not like one another. With that, the fact that she just outright believed him before Saiki even explained his precognition, simultaneously surprised and disturbed him.

Neo's pleasant smile as she skipped towards the chocolate bar called a bedroom door, only reinforced that latter feeling. _'Simple. You're the impossible.'_

Neo dramatically flung open the door, revealing a quaint normal-looking living space. Staying in a dimly lit and completely tricolored room left Saiki in a state to be vulnerable to the light shining into the bedroom, parts of his sight blinded besides the edges of his visual field and whatever light Neo was blocking her body.

' _And the impossible owes me a couple of favors.'_

While Neo was having her little dramatic moment, Saiki grabbed Neo's sword before throwing it at her. Neo was honestly surprised when she was given a fully straight blade. _'I fixed your sword. I can only do it once per day so don't attack me again. Minus one favor.'_

' _But you are the one who bent it. Plus one favor.'_

' _Because you actually attacked me with intent to kill. Minus one favor.'_

Neo grumbled, knowing she lost this argument.

-Ψ-

It took around half an hour to reach the building Saiki predicted would collapse. Not because it was difficult to locate, but because Neo ended up consuming a lot of time trying to perfect a disguise. However, instead of the twin-tailed girl disguise Neo used back in the sweets shop, Neo was wearing sports casual wear, only keeping her boots, and any trace of her heterochromatic appearance had dissipated.

Her hair was fully brown, initially she decided on pink before glaring at Saiki for a brief moment. Neo's brown and pink eyes were both abandoned for sky blue colored contacts, something she said was for when she got lazy with her semblance. Her necklaces were thrown aside for a silver locket, picture not included, that was wrung around the collar of a black racing jacket. A cerulean blue tank top that complemented her false eyes and a pair of beige cargo jeans completed the set.

It was quite off-putting for Saiki to see such a drastic appearance change. For once, Neo actually looked normal, a kind of average person that Saiki would try to become. It's a shame that Saiki knew the psychopath that inherited that skin.

A psychopath that was currently trying her best not to lazily lean on Saiki's shoulder or roll around in the heat, trying to preserve some sense of normalcy. Saiki made sure to applaud his praises. After walking directly to the scene of the to-be-crime, the two fellow manipulators found themselves loitering across the street.

Given a few minutes, Neo broke under the heat.

' _Blehh~. Can't we go under an awning or something?'_ Neo asked, spinning her head in dizzy bemusement. She was attempting to claw at the psychic that was patiently waiting alongside the wall, but in her exaggerated state of weakness, it was more like she was a cat pawing at him.

' _Just because you dress like one, doesn't mean you melt like one. Get over it. Or you could just leave.'_ Saiki responded. He was currently trying to listen to the thoughts of everyone nearby, but with the number of people, Saiki couldn't get past more than a gist of their situations… their very mundane situations. Considering the whole different world thing, it seemed like it wouldn't be too much of a stretch that the average person he strived to be in his world is still an applicable goal.

Despite all the people, Saiki made sure to pay attention to Neo. Being stabbed in the back was not an impossibility. An uncomfortable fact that he somehow got used to. _'Staying here gives me full coverage.'_

' _Couldn't we do it half & half? I can read body language like you can with minds… and I could do it out of direct sunlight…'_

' _Would the ice cream like some condensed milk to also cry over?'_ Saiki groaned back, already annoyed with Neo's distracting complaints. Said 'ice cream' tried to muster some strength to glare at him before sighing to signify finally giving up.

' _We could get some clothes instead…'_ Neo mused upon seeing a clothing mannequin in the store window behind them.

Saiki exhaled deeply. His mind reading wasn't yielding much results, and by judging where the sun currently was, they still had around half an hour before the precognitive event happened. And so, he decided to humor Neo, but without complying. _'Why would we do that? I don't have the money the pay for anything because of your favor from yesterday. And why would you need clothes if you could just use your illusions to be your custom clothes at any time.'_

' _What?! And run around naked? Pervert.'_ Neo managed to mock Saiki through her exhaustion. Saiki may have decided to humor her, but he wasn't going to dignify that with a response. _'Plus if my semblance breaks, I'm stuck like that anyway. Why do you think I even changed? Do you think?'_

Saiki was about ready to fall for her baiting before Neo continued, _'Even if a girl could always use more clothes… I was talking about you. Those mint green pajamas look tacky and stupid. You don't have to dress up in your personality.'_

' _Like I said. No money. Not like you would pay.'_ Saiki was going to leave the conversation there before Neo did something out of character.

' _Done.'_ Neo responded immediately before pulling Saiki along to the door, once again taken by surprise. Damn. This girl really is dangerous.

Well, Saiki thought it was out of character until Neo was about to swing the store door open. _'A couple of lien to get out of the sun and embarrass you?! Best deal ever.'_

-Ψ-

Saiki really hated Neo. Why was this psychopath the one to match up with this telepath?! Saiki knew he already questioned this to himself constantly, he could've gone with the huntress back at the alley or her sister… or just go to Ozpin and sign himself up. His stupid pride got himself into this situation and fate was punishing that sin way past acceptable levels.

Saiki was allowed to keep his hair clips and his glasses. The latter only after a very clear threat. And so, the chronicles of bad fashion sense began.

First, it was something light. Saiki was given a bright yellow and orange striped jacket and Scottish-themed plaid pants. As soon as he commented the obvious, Neo pretended to cry publicly. To preserve the remains of his public pride, Saiki barely got to leave the changing room.

After the debacle of the warm colored striped and plaid, Neo took a picture with both her and his scroll. She then gave him a cut-off blue jacket, yellow polo, and then something that looked suspiciously like women's jeans. In the end, her thoughts neither confirmed nor denied that fact.

After another picture, and a few spectators joining Neo's fun, Saiki was given a sweater that had a poorly sewn onion on it. It came with earthen-colored jacket with a hood that was colored like a potato.

When the store manager suddenly had a mannequin fall on him, a few employees were in position to see Saiki come out with the clothes again. They, including the manager, proceeded to stand by Neo.

It was when he was given a rainbow tie with a checkerboard pattern button shirt to pair with cargo shorts that a veritable crowd was gathering around his changing room. Neo was handing out popcorn that she somehow obtained.

After another five cycles of changing, pictures, complaint, crying, more crying, crowd jeering and begruding acceptance, Saiki was handed a set of clothes that would destroy any possible reputation he might've garnered and possibly his chastity.

But Neo made a mistake with this one. A mistake that finally cracked Saiki's patience. Out of a sense of preserving the surprise of the outfit she got from outside the store, Neo kept the set in a bag. A non-see-through bag.

Apport. Apport. Apport. Apport. Oops. Boots should've gone together. Apport. Hmm… there isn't anything the same price as this one nearby... Clairvoyance. Apport.

' _This is flashier that I would like. And not suited for this heat, either.'_ Saiki contemplated whilst looking at himself in the mirror.

Neo, who had been waiting with the crowd, did know it would take a while for the telepath to change into his new clothes, but her patience ran thin. _'What are you doing in there?'_

' _Oh. She doesn't know about apport yet… no, this is too important.'_ Saiki wasn't entirely impressed with his fashion choices with the apport ranges he was given, but he did not have time to locate every piece of perfect clothing.

Pulling aside the curtain, a moment of silence passed. After the torment he was subjected to, Saiki listened to the crowd's thoughts, assuming Neo finally took pity on his soul and was willing to send this entertainment show on a more somber note.

Clapping from a few began a grand applause. One that Neo begrudgingly joined out of her own reputational self-preservation.

Saiki had walked out wearing a purple and black hiking jacket, with high pockets, and black leather bands woven into the ends of each purple sleeve. Over his collar, there was a crimson scarf that matched with the maroon-tinted red urban backpack. A simple mint green long-sleeved shirt, reminiscent of his uniform, had the bracketed letters [S O S] printed in white at the center of his torso. His jeans were of a darker indigo blue that blended well with his jacket and purple sneakers while contrasting his lighter shirt.

' _I suppose this could be acceptable for my general casual wear. Jacket and scarf should be omitted during the heat however…'_ Saiki pondered, the gathering of people dispersing back to their own business.

Neo sighed, while twirling a final piece of popcorn between her fingers, _'Good job, Casanova. Got out of that one well enough. I suppose that's enough shaming for now, let's go pay.'_

' _Oh. Half of these weren't in the store though.'_ Saiki admitted. Neo blinked back in response. _'Didn't you already buy that last set somewhere else?'_

Neo clamped her fist into her right palm. _'You swapped them. In that case, screw paying.'_

Saiki reminded himself to try and reimburse the stores that currently had... odd clothes in different places.

That reminder ended up half-hearted when Saiki noticed the mental state of his dispersed observers. And their curiosity.

Breaking into a sprint towards the window, Neo reciprocating Saiki's mad dash, Saiki stared spitefully at his mistake. Across the street, in the building they were meant to monitor, a large assortment of police cars had quarantined the area. From the officer's thoughts, Saiki realized the entire building was apparently being held hostage.

Without looking at one another, the two pretend average people began a quick assessment.

' _I'll cut my tags.'_

' _I'll get your old clothes.'_

-Ψ-

Saiki ran out of the store, his urban backpack stuffed with his school uniform and shoes. The heat was annoying but bearable for the moment. Neo, with her small frame, cut a path for them in the large amount of people gathered around the police tape.

However, it wasn't because they couldn't see what was going on. That was pretty obvious. The entire building was covered in what looked to be a translucent barrier. What they wanted was to see if they could get a look at the perpetrator.

Saiki designated the criminal's thoughts from his agitation with the police's failed attempt to break the barrier with a battering ram. Simple siege weaponry transcends past worlds, it seems.

As Saiki and Neo reached the front of the police tape, they saw the person causing their worries. In terms of age, they seemed to be fresh out of college, although his incredibly casual appearance, with the tacky tourist shirt and khaki shorts seemed to betray any thought of him currently being in the work force. the criminal began falling apart. Enough so for Saiki to realize the man was crazed rather than nefarious. _'Why don't they get it?! Can't they see them?! The atoms… they're everywhere! Get them awaaaaaayyyy! Go AWAY!'_

' _Atoms? Is that all? I suppose seeing them for the first time is quite revelatory, if not suffocating. Perhaps he suffers from claustrophobia?'_ Saiki thought. Seeing atoms was a by-product of one of his powers, but since he rarely used that power in his world, it was rarely an issue. After all, energy condensation was a simple and useless process that could only make things like…

Barriers.

' _That's… quite a coincidence._ ' Saiki reasoned, before succumbing to an obvious conclusion. _'Nope. I definitely caused this. I have no idea how though.'_

' _However, that does clear up what causes the explosion. Energy condensation, if left unchecked, leaves the forming atoms to become unstable. When the culprit brings the building down on himself, he probably protected himself with a barrier, one that he didn't control properly._ _But if it really is identical to my own power, if he stops creating barriers, the ability to see atoms would disappear with it.'_ Saiki contemplated, staring downwards at the pebbles at his feet.

Saiki noticed that by cutting through the crowd, they had attracted the irritation of the people Neo pushed around. But before he needed to say anything, Saiki experienced the familiar feeling that came when you turned into an illusion. _'That saves me some trouble.'_

' _So what's the plan?'_ Neo asked, assessing the situation in front of her. _'If you teleport us in, I could take him down before he sees us coming. Wait, can you-'_

Neo's planning was interrupted as a high-speed projectile whiffed straight past her head, taking a few brown hair follicles with it. The projectile then pointedly punctured a tiny opening in the barrier, halving its velocity before dangerously hurtling straight towards the barrier creator's head.

' _Hu-KUPLEH!' Before_ the tacky dresser could even finish his confused thought, the projectile crashed painfully into the side of his teeth. The resulting impact swung his body in a full 360 degree spin, even carrying his body a few centimeters upwards. Understandably, it also knocked him out immediately which caused the subsequent dispelling of the barrier surrounding the building.

In the resulting moment of silence, the only noticeable movement was a small tinted rock bouncing off the side of the man's mouth.

The police, spurred from their confusion, rushed into the building to secure the criminal as those who were actually aware they were hostages ran past them. Some of the people on the higher floors continued to toil away, unaware of the situation unfolding underneath them. In the future, they would boast about the dangerous situation they were in despite not even knowing about it to make their lives seem more interesting.

' _Ah. Oops. I might've knocked loose a tooth or two.'_ Saiki reflected.

' _You almost took off my head with a rock.'_ Neo thought, too stunned for words eve if she wasn't mute. _'You know, I've been thinking this for a while, but aren't you kind of a broken character?!'_

' _Broken in both good ways and bad. Mainly bad. But now that the explosion won't happen anymore, it's time to get something to eat. It's already early afternoon.'_

' _Really? Hey, we could make it before Beacon's initiation begins.'_

' _I thought I already refused that offer?'_ Saiki mentioned, before blending into the dispersing crowd, Neo following closely behind.

' _Eh. Cinder was hoping to have a spy on the inside, but that would means I would have to be classmates with you. No matter what it's a win and lose situation both ways.'_ Neo exaggerated a nonchalant shrug. _'I'll just message her that I'll meet her in Mistral. I'll get packing after we eat.'_

' _We?'_

' _You don't have any money. And this will cancel out you paying last time. Oh, you can sleep on my couch. Wouldn't want you falling unconscious somewhere conspicuous, after all.'_

' _That's awfully kind of you…'_ Saiki commented, expecting an ulterior motive.

' _That'll bring the favor count to not fighting you, 1… shop illusion, 2… juice box, 3… teleporting unconscious into my bed, 4… Ah, I'll count that one as double, 5...helping you cancels out repairs... Ooh, five favors from someone who can teleport and use X-ray vision. If I was a guy, I know what I would use those on.'_ Neo grinned diabolically. _'Wait…'_

Neo grabbed at her chest instinctively. _'You've been looking at me naked, haven't you? Gross.'_

Saiki waved her off. _'It's automatic. I got used to naked bodies when I was in kindergarten. Not like that really matter for you.'_

' _Oh. Wait. What do you mean by that?'_ Neo glared at Saiki angrily. _'I could make you do something really disgusting to reimburse me.'_

' _What makes you think I would let you?'_ Saiki said rhetorically, turning his head back at Neo with a terrifying face.

' _Duh. Five favors.'_ Neo said innocently.

Saiki heavily disliked losing these arguments.

* * *

 **Say, does asking for reviews actually do anything? I don't know. Just the best way of letting me know I'm doing a good/bad job. I'll try to respond to them if I can, PMs work okay too.**

 **Nonchalant begging aside, here's the special ANNOUNCEMENT:**

 **In a couple of chapters, there was a small gap in my outline that I hoped to come up with some one-off story. Never got around to it. So instead, you guys can go ahead and request your own little scenes. I was going to suggest this in a later chapter, but might as well mention it now to give you guys some time to course, these scenes aren't limited to what would be plausible for the characters, they'll be entirely non-canon, unless they're inconsequential. So feel free to add characters or make dumb situations like make Neo's slumber party a reality or etc.  
**

 **I'll be making the notice when this 'omake' chapter is the next one, and a few days past that will be the deadline. I suggest PM's, since leaving it as a review would be kind of an unfair stat. Unless of course, you want to voice your opinions. Fully appreciated.**

 **For sassymelon, who brings up a fair point about updates along with encouraging words, I'll be trying to post 2-4 chapters weekly before taking a break that shouldn't last much longer than a month. I do want to get past this introductory phase after all. Around 38,000 words and its been only a few days in the story. At this rate, I'll die before getting halfway done with Volume 2. I'd like to avoid that.**

 **Next time on _A Disastrous New World for Saiki Kusuo:_ Let's ignore the yellow brick road! For those of you who somehow don't understand that reference, yes, Ozpin is there.**


	7. Chapter 7: A New AsPSIgnment

**This chapter was supposed to come out two days ago. Everyone give a collective "Boo!" to disease!**

* * *

' _Well this is awfully bizarre for a dream. At least it didn't knock me out with it…'_ Saiki thought. He had felt this sensation before. Unlike the presence of actually being there that came with precognitive dreams, this type of unconscious vision preferred to merely show him what was happening. Imagine walking on a TV set being precognition and watching the actual show being… whatever this was.

But unlike with the time with Ozpin and the interrogation room, both of Saiki's eyes were privy to completely different scenes. Since it was annoying, Saiki alternated opening each eye to watch both scenarios.

When he first found himself in this dream state, Saiki was forced in front of a television store window, each screen showing a separate news program. In his right eye, there was little out of the ordinary. Reports on day-to-day living, weather forecasts, Grimm activity rises to be wary of. The only thing of actual note was one news anchor, apparently slow on the uptake, talking about Roman Torchwick as one of the kings of Vale's underground. Crime must be a rare profession here.

However, his left eye watched as most of the programs shifted into a breaking news report of the hostage situation that had happened yesterday. Saiki kept swapping to his right eye, constantly confirming that the situation was only happening in his left eye. _'Odd. Why is that different?'_

Some clues surfaced in the next scene… scenes, the ones Saiki was now watching. Shifting away from the TV screens, his left eye was now focused on Kaidou of all people, if the red bandaged hands and silver bangs were any indication. Along with Kuboyasu, and Teruhashi, and Toritsuka, Kaidou was positioned precariously over a cliff's edge alongside a number of other students. Being at the end of the line, Kaidou looked meek compared to the other more mature-looking teenagers. The other three were fitting in by their own methods, leaving Kaidou out.

As for his right eye, the scene was identical, but he was seeing through the lens of someone he didn't even know, still at the end of the line. However, the key difference was that none of his classmates were there despite everyone else being the same. He only recognized two of the lineup, the Weiss girl and Ruby from his earlier dream. When Saiki switched back to his left eye, Kaidou seemed to have made eye contact with Ruby and gave a weak wave.

Before he got catapulted mercilessly. And with it, Saiki's dreamscape.

-Ψ-

' _Does one eye see the vision where I intervened? My left eye saw those idiots when my right eye didn't. What is this new power supposed to be exactly?'_ Saiki wondered immediately upon waking up.

' _Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnd...'_ A thought brought Saiki out of his musings. Casually, he brought himself to sit on the somewhat comfortable couch that he slept on.

Just as it did yesterday, Neo's bedroom door was thrown open, testing the strength of its hinges. In the doorway, stood a triumphant Neo, who had a dainty suitcase by her side. ' _All packed!'_

Saiki decided not to comment on how not even the wheels, the handle, or the stickers didn't betray the tricolor scheme. _'That seems small for a half year long trip.'_

Neo shrugged. _'I pack light. I could come back if I need to, mooch off of other people, or manipulate them into taking care of a cute little girl like me. So, what are you going to do, then?'_

' _Nothing you are affiliated with.'_ Saiki replied, earning a pout for his troubles. _'I'll try to be gone and out of you and your bosses' plans by the time you come back.'_

' _Remember you owe favors. I demand an easy life.'_ Neo pointed dramatically.

' _In that case, find someone else.'_

' _Okay. Fun life, then.'_ Neo corrected, rolling her eyes.

' _That'll be one-sided.'_ Saiki retorted.

' _Just the way I like it.'_ Neo mocked hugging herself in joy. Taking hold of her suitcase handle, she physically leapt to the front door. _'I need to catch a flight. Literally. If you plan to stay, count two favors a week, and a number of favors of my choosing if you break anything. In any case, see ya!'_

Saiki breathed out in relief when Neo skipped her way out of the house. Alright, it's about time to make progress on finding a way home.

' _Oh. That's my scroll. Cinder? Turn on the monitor? With Saiki?_ ' Neo read out the information she got from a message, only a few meters away from the complex. Saiki wanted his relief back as Neo begrudgingly walked back into his company.

' _Fine. This first, then I go.'_ Neo accepted, twirling her finger around in annoyance. Saiki telekinetically brought the remote to his hand, just as he would in his own home. _'Any news channel, apparently. She didn't specify.'_

Saiki clicked on the CCTS monitor. A woman with a black suit, silver hair, and yellow irises appeared, a headline saying, "Tragedy at Beacon."

' _Well that can't be good.'_ Neo commented the obvious, while Saiki was actually somewhat worried.

"-and we all hope that tragedies such as this will never happen again. Beacon staff have publicly addressed that they will look towards putting excessive restrictions on their initiation practice to limit the live training. However, the strain between citizens and Beacon will be tested from such a preventable death. Huntsmen put their lives on the line, but I don't believe the students need to be put through such danger on their first day."

' _Did someone actually get killed at initiation? Dang, Ozpin must've stepped it up and messed it up.'_ Neo remarked, shifting Saiki's attention for a moment.

' _You almost got us wrapped up in that as well…'_ Saiki replied.

' _Yeah, being put on lockdown does not sound like fun. The other kids are probably re-thinking everything while being forced to rest until the whole mess gets sorted out.'_ Neo explained.

' _How do you know what's going on? Not like we saw a report like that.'_ Saiki genuinely questioned.

' _Bureaucratic idiocrasy is the friend of criminals everywhere.'_ Neo shrugged. _'Speaking of which, I wonder how much Beacon is gonna lose for recompenses to the family.'_

' _Shouldn't you care about how they would feel first?'_ Saiki regretted even asking when Neo looked back at him, utterly confused.

"The body of Toritsuka Reita will be placed at the academy morgue until it is eventually claimed. We all pray for his soul."

' _Oh shit.'_ Neo thought, seeing the smiling face of a purple-haired teenager, but what caught her eyes was his mint-green uniform. Hearing the remote drop onto the carpet besides her, Neo turned to look at Saiki with his mouth agape.

Even behind his green glasses, the shock was clearly evident.

' _He can teleport, right…'_ Neo thought. _'I don't know if you're listening. But the morgue is off to the eastern side of campus, on the first underground floor of the infirmary. Guess we know why Cinder thought you would find it interesting…'_

Neo was met with silence. She didn't really know what to do before a hand lightly placed itself on her shoulder. Turning angrily to Saiki, her fury quickly dissipated as she needed to recover from the mental overload.

It was her first time drastically teleporting, without warning and the massive change in scenery and lighting bothered her eyes. Before Neo was adapted to the colder room with metallic walls, Saiki told her, ' _Make sure we aren't caught.'_

Blinking her confusion away, Neo waved her hand around dismissively. _'Sure, sure… can't even ask for a favor here. Maybe later…'_

Saiki moved his hand over the cold metal hatches, knowing some of the boxes hold darker secrets within. Instantly reading their respective plaques, moving onto their accompanying autopsies just in case, Saiki made swift progress along the morgue's walls.

Until he completely stopped at the name Toritsuka Reita. The psychic had more than one reason for his pause. The plaque that affirmed his death with Toristuka's name also seemed to shift in and out of existence. It took a moment before Saiki realized that his right eye was tricking his vision, pretending the plaque did not even exist. Saiki's previously opened fingers clenched heavily along the hatch handle, the psychic too preoccupied to investigate the application of his annoying new power.

Neo hopped behind him in curiosity once she secured the door's lock after checking for anyone outside the room. Saiki pulled open the hatch, revealing a pair of feet, a color only befitting of a corpse. As the hatch opened, his right eye no longer pretended the body didn't exist.

Solemnly grabbing the tray underneath the body, Saiki began walking backwards to pull out the full body. He could've used his telekinetic powers, or used his X-ray vision but... it felt wrong at the moment.

While Neo was relieved the body had a sheet over the rest of the body, Saiki began walking towards the head of the tray, and of the corpse. The giant bloodstain as well as a slight dip in the sheet was clearly showed that Toritsuka was currently lacking a decent amount of his chest.

What exactly was he supposed to do? Saiki could feel himself trembling far before he confirmed his identity. Toritsuka was undoubtedly an idiot, the closest a human being could be to becoming garbage.

And Saiki killed him. Indirectly, yes. But it was his powers that brought Toritsuka to where he died. As Neo stepped to the side to see if she could grab his autopsy report, Saiki punched at the morgue wall.

Neo jumped back, incredibly startled and rightly so as she witnessed the entire wall cave in to Saiki's punch. She silently watched in awe as the massive damage began reversing itself back to its pristine state, Saiki resting along the metal surface with the support of his hand.

As Saiki continued his self-lamentation, Neo started skimming through the details of Toritsuka's death. Upon reaching the cause of death, Neo failed to hold back her amusement. _'Pfft. Apparently he died of shock. His heart stopped beating before he got skewered.'_

Saiki's head shot up, realizing that he could probably have saved Toritsuka especially if his death was as stupid as that… if he was there, that is. If he decided not to be stubborn and just let himself get wrapped up in the annoyance. For once, the disaster in the title makes sense.

"Alright, it's been a damn good day!"

The sudden yell from directly outside the morgue door alerted Saiki and prompted him to turn his head. Neo looked at him confused, _'What's up?'_

Saiki looked surprised but before he could answer, the yelling's owner walked through the door. Literally.

"Yaaahh~. The student locker room was amazing, but I should've gone to the hospital changing room from the start! Hello, nurse!"

Upon locking eyes with Saiki, Toritsuka's transparent face went ecstatic. "Saiki-saaaaaan!"

Flying himself over in an excited dash, Toritsuka leapt and nearly clung himself onto Saiki's chest. Instead, his face was met with an astral projected uppercut. Saiki failed to hold back his complete disdain for Toritsuka on his expression as the psychic watched the ghost of Toritsuka phase through the ceiling after being knocked upwards.

"That's cruel, Saiki-san!" Toritsuka retorted, after floating back down from the ceiling.

' _Yeah, I should have put more force into it.'_ Saiki replied.

Altogether ignoring his commented, Toritsuka began monologue, "Wow, I thought it was weird finding myself here so I thought, 'Oh, it must be Saiki-san!' But you weren't around and I thought that my main character time had finally come! But this world has so many violent women that don't deserve their bodies, you know! And I thought it was bad back in Japan! Dying was a godsend, although I didn't know I would become a ghost. I'm so happy you brought me here, even if I didn't know I would become a ghost!"

' _You don't have to repeat yourself. I get that you were actually scared, even if I know I don't care.'_ Saiki responded.

Toritsuka looked embarrassed for a brief moment before asking without any shame, "Oh! On that note, could you bring me back? Being a ghost is really awesome but nothing would beat touching the real thing."

Neo, who was very confused at why Saiki seemed like he was going insane and why his arm decided to go limp for a moment, witnessed as the autopsy in her hands began floating towards Saiki. Toritsuka, who watched the exchange gasped, "Oh my god! Saiki-san! Did you actually bring a girl?! And you used your powers in front of her! Did you get another sidekick like Aiura?! I'm hurt, Saiki-san! But she's really damn hot so I forgive you!"

Saiki, thoroughly ignoring Toritsuka's remarks, skimmed through the entire autopsy. When he found the time of death, Saiki did some quick mental calculations as he read through the rest of the report. It certainly would be difficult to explain how the giant hole in his chest came back. However that point proved to be a null factor because after translating the time difference, Saiki unfortunately realized that Toritsuka died more than a day ago, past the time his rewind power could activate. Grimly, Saiki looked to Toritsuka and addressed, "Listen. You…"

Saiki's thoughts trailed off as he watched what Toritsuka was currently doing. After a moment of pure disgust, he silently reached over to Neo's shoulder.

Neo instinctively slapped the offending hand away, only partially out of fear of his strength. _'What do you think you're doing?'_

In response to Neo's venom-loaded question, Saiki answered, _'I was about to do something that may be misconstrued so I'm clearing up the misunderstanding before it starts. I'm only going to touch your shoulder and you'll understand.'_

'… _Fine.'_ Neo accepted, still skeptical. However, a curiosity dwelled within her. When Neo felt Saiki's hand on her shoulder, she blinked a few times in confusion. _'Um. Wasn't that supposed to do something?'_

' _I've never really done this the other way before.'_ Saiki admitted. But before Neo could make a comment, he instructed with his palm slapped onto his face, _'If it worked correctly, look down.'_

Neo, tired of her own confusion at this point, merely followed his instruction. Suddenly, she understood the reason why Saiki was sporting such a disdainful look.

Currently, there seemed to be a purple-haired individual with half of his face currently buried in her crotch. With the fury of a thousand dying stars, Neo swiped at the apparition's head. Only for her hand to harmlessly pass by, the ghost not even noticing. Angrily, she asked, _'How do I hurt him?!'_

' _I don't think you can.'_

' _Can you?!'_

' _Yes.'_

' _Can I watch?'_

' _Of course.'_

Neo was now able to see as Saiki left behind his physical arm for an astral projection and grab Toritsuka painfully by his head. Ignoring his whelp of pain, Saiki then threw him around as if he was violently drying a wet towel.

' _Ooh. Cram his head into the ground, but only after you break his arm off.'_

' _That's a bit too far.'_ Saiki rejected as he proceeded to twist Toritsuka's arm to a point of fracturing if he was still alive. _'And ghosts can phase through the ground.'_

Saiki explained this as he grabbed Toritsuka's leg and slingshotted him through the ceiling at breakneck speeds. _'Well, it's a good thing that he died out of the four of them. But I need to stop this before it gets out of hand.'_

' _Hey.'_ Neo thought to get Saiki's attention. _'Is that asshole dead?'_

' _Well, he's already dead. But if you mean the ghost him, probably not.'_

' _Figure out a way so I can hurt him.'_

' _I wouldn't have much of a choice otherwise.'_ Saiki commented as Neo sported a smug look. Shaking his head in annoyance, he added, _'Let's go sign up for Beacon.'_

'… _!'_ Neo hopped back in an exaggerated surprise and hovered her hand over her mouth as if she was gasping. _'Together? Really? At least buy me dinner first.'_

Saiki ignored the poor excuse for a joke and admitted, _'I can't hide myself and unfortunately, your illusions are very useful. So I get you into Beacon, and you leave me out of your criminal activities.'_

Neo saluted mockingly to signify her confirmation. _'I'll message Cinder that I'll be out of her hands, then. Wonder if old man Ozpin will still take us even if it's past initiation.'_

' _He won't have much of a choice.'_

-Ψ-

"Hey, Saiki."

' _Huh? Who are you?'_ Saiki asked the random stranger that called him out on the walk to the CCTS tower, and Ozpin's office.

"No one. This entire event doesn't actually exist."

Realizing what was happening, Saiki said, _'Isn't this fourth wall break too blatant?'_

"Well, yes. But this scene needs to happen so that people realize what happened."

「Oh? What exactly happened…? Wait, what's with the new quotes? 」Saiki demanded.

"Yes, that's the thing. Turns out the whole italicized thought conversation that you have with Neo may work out when it's just the two of you, but when more characters are thinking, it's difficult to pinpoint which of your thoughts are ones that you project to other people along with which ones are your own thoughts."

' _So my thoughts are still in this format…'_ Saiki thought.

[Oh! Do I get one too?! Oh, I do!] Neo wrote… before confusedly staring at the sign she produced out of nowhere.

「Brackets for her, huh? Is that even necessary?!」 Saiki retorted. 「But in any case, was there any reason to break the pace of the story just to address this stupidity? Instead of say, a note?」

"Well it's a pretty big change, and Neo's brackets will mainly be used when she actually writes out something or speaking whilst knowing there is telepathy. But more importantly, I thought it would be funny."

「What part of this is at all funny?! Let alone interesting?!」 Saiki questioned.

"This part."

「…You are terrible at this. At least try to hide it.」

[Eat sign, bitch!] were the words engraved onto Neo's sign as she slapped the random bystander with it.

「Please don't encourage this. We're already getting out of character.」

[That's all folks!] Neo held up as she shrugged.

-Ψ-

「I feel like something random just happened.」 Saiki shared. Instead of his casual wear, Saiki was back in his mint green uniform, just to help prove his connection to his classmates.

[Are you stalling?] Neo asked, both of them currently in the lobby of Beacon Tower, ready to ask their way into Ozpin's office. Saiki had teleported them immediately from the morgue, only in a more secluded area behind some particularly large bushes. He had Neo wait for a moment as he confirmed that no one knew about their sudden intrusion. Normally, Saiki would be willing to go through the proper channels but the quicker he was to get to his classmates' sides, the safer they would be.

Also, it would mean they could ditch Toritsuka. Saiki was sure that nuisance would find his way back at some point.

「Are you sure you don't want to get in disguise?」 Saiki asked Neo, who was still dressed in her ice cream-themed attire.

[I can at any time, remember. But for now, it's fine. Not that many people even know my face, not even most of Vale's underground. I make sure most of them are dead, after all. And this way, I would be more comfortable, and it's already difficult enough to trick Ozpin, especially compared to the other schools' headmasters.] Neo explained in an instant. [So we going to ask around or what?]

「Fine. I'm sure that… well. I guess we won't be needing to ask, after all.」

[Huh?] Neo thought before a voice called out behind them.

"Oh. I don't believe you two are students here, and I'm fairly certain I would know."

Saiki and Neo both turned around to face headmaster Ozpin without any excitement to betray their intentions. Saiki thought to himself while trying not to narrow his eyes in suspicion, _'Your thoughts give you away. But it seems like you already know who we are. That's some information network.'_

Saiki was first to speak up, seeing as Neo physically couldn't. "Right. My acquaintance here," Saiki took a moment to motion to Neo. "Was looking to get into Beacon. However, due to my unfortunate circumstances, I ended up stopping her."

This was some lie, and Saiki was expertly rolling with it without hesitation which genuinely surprised Neo. Emphasizing the motion of clenching his hand, Saiki added, "And I saw that my classmate died here."

Saiki allowed the moment of silence engulf the three of them.

' _I suppose there really is a fifth. And he's standing right in front of me. Curious how he wasn't with his friends.'_ Ozpin thought, believing they were private. _'He's certainly trying to hide something, he's trying too hard. But if what his friends say is true, there isn't a precedent for this and he has more than a right to be angry.'_

Assuming he was breaking the silence, Ozpin solemnly offered, "Would you like to continue this in my office?"

-Ψ-

The entire elevator ride was quiet, none of the three parties even shifting uncomfortably in the silence. It was only when Ozpin exited the elevator to a room Saiki had already seen beforehand using his clairvoyance, that he finally addressed the two of them. "So pray tell, what exactly are your motivations for coming here?"

The first thing Ozpin did was pour himself a cup of coffee, already blended at a previous date. His pupils seemed to be looking at both of them simultaneously.

Saiki looked to Neo for a moment before she thought, [Ah, just tell him. He knows what I look like, it's fine if he knows what I sound like.]

"She's mute." Saiki stated. Ozpin's look of surprise was slight but noticeable, and Saiki could find a hint of concern in his expression, although it may be an unconscious feeling. "I already said that she wanted to enroll here. That's her reason for being here."

Neo waved to reassert her presence. Saiki continued, "As for me, I want to know why Toritsuka was here."

' _Oh, I suppose he wouldn't know about the others.'_ Ozpin thought, Saiki inwardly smirking at the fact that he didn't let out something stupid unnecessarily.

"It should not be a problem to inform you of this, but there seems to be others in the same situation as you." Ozpin confessed, finally seating himself in his chair. Saiki and Neo followed suit with the chairs across his desk.

' _That was vague, dammit.'_ Saiki thought, while showing off his expertly crafted confused face.

"Would the names Shun… Kaidou Shun, Kuboyasu Aren, and Teruhashi Kokomi sound familiar?" Ozpin asked, taking a casual sip of his coffee.

Saiki feigned his surprise. "What about them?"

"Well, they are currently attending Beacon Academy, although I'm sure you could infer that from what happened to your other friend." Ozpin explained, noticing that Saiki did not show any concern over the mention of Toritsuka.

"We weren't close, not even in the same class." Saiki gave his context when he realized his mistake. "Wait, would that mean it's fine that I- we could attend Beacon with them? Is that how this works?"

Saiki looked to Neo as if he was asking for confirmation. While she faced her palms upward to show she didn't know, Neo conversely thought, [I thought this before, but you're pretty good at this faking stuff.]

Saiki chose to let her dwell on that thought and not answer her. Turning to Ozpin for an answer, Saiki allowed his natural indifference to show. Ozpin started, "While I'm sure your friend could handle herself…"

' _At least if what Krane's video showed is true, they both can.'_ Ozpin thought, Saiki now curious as to what video he was referring to. When did he get on tape?

"I wouldn't suggest enrolling here. It's dangerous. Your friend, Teruhashi, has already expressed her concerns and is likely to drop out." Ozpin advised, his voice holding a slight quiver, as the hand around the coffee mug strengthened its grip on the handle.

' _Even if they have extraordinarily different manifestations of aura, one young man even learning his semblance so early… and Toritsuka looked to already have a semblance of his own. I got them in a situation they were unprepared for, what a fool I was.'_

' _Hm. He's taking Toritsuka's death hard.'_ Saiki affirmed to himself. _'I suppose any member of any school's staff would not take the death of the student very well.'_

"And the other two?" Saiki asked, hoping that they would follow Teruhashi's example. It would make the need to become a student redundant.

"They… are fully intending to continue the curriculum." Ozpin informed, with a solitary pause indicating his misgivings.

' _Great. How annoying. That means I have to enroll. Even if Ozpin is probably willing to continue housing Teruhashi without the schooling, the other idiots may actually go out and fight monsters. If I'm not enrolled, it would be far too difficult to explain why I might need to tag along.'_

"I know what you're going to say." Ozpin cut off Saiki before he could try and speak. The psychic guessed he let his face show that he got over his reluctance. "And I know you two can both fight to some degree."

Tapping at his desk, a few virtual pictures appeared over Ozpin's desk. While Saiki gawked at the wondrous technology, Ozpin brought up a video file. It was a recording, taken from a chest height, and showed Saiki and Neo flawlessly dance around those thugs in the alleyway near the sweets shop.

[Shit! We were recorded. Guess it's a good thing I didn't come in disguise.] Neo thought as the clip ended.

"I can see experience when it's there." Ozpin said, looking to Neo as he did. "If you're willing to take a quick physical in a short while, I can look to your enrollment."

[Oh damn. It worked. Normally this entire thing is way more scrutinizing. You need to have proper papers and everything. He has to be way more concerned with you. Good work, gofer!] Neo congratulated Saiki at her pending acceptance.

Saiki grimaced. The video didn't exactly show his own combat capability. Understandably, Ozpin wondered, "As for you, I'm sure you know exactly what kind of school this is. Unfortunately, I can't risk your enrollment if you can't protect yourself without relying on your friend."

Saiki disliked that Ozpin thought Neo was his friend. He explicitly said acquaintance earlier. "Ehto... this might not be much, but she unlocked my aura the other day."

Well, he wasn't lying when he pointed at Neo. This should also boost her as a student candidate if only the 'skilled' could unlock others' auras. "For some reason, she was surprised that I unlocked my semblance."

' _What? Another one?!'_ Ozpin exclaimed in his head, although his demeanor did not remotely change. Perhaps it helped that the mug was currently over his mouth.

Neo also shared his expressionless surprise, but nodded nonetheless. Unsure, Neo stressed, [You do know what you're doing, right?]

Saiki, despite his mistakes since coming here, considered himself competent. Upon realization that he should be using his powers under false pretenses to hide his entire arsenal of powers, Saiki had been excessively pondering what his 'semblance' should be.

These semblances all seemed to be straightforward, but flexible, if Neo's was any indication. However, Kaidou's teleportation seems to lean much more on the flexibility over combative strength. With most of Saiki's powers having very clear limits, especially in terms of control, it was difficult pinpointing a 'semblance' that could be powerful and unique to make Saiki worth any investment but give Saiki enough control to properly manipulate it.

Immediately, pyrokinesis came to mind. But without the ability to make instant blazes at will, Saiki thought it was insufficient. Especially when it came to the fact that fire seemed to be an element condensed into Dust.

Upon that fact, Saiki had an epiphany.

Holding up his open palm upwards and in clear view of Ozpin, Saiki ignited a medium-sized flame within his hand. "Fire."

Before Ozpin could say anything, Saiki closed his fist to engulf the flame before reopening it. This time, a copious amount of water poured out from the center of his palm and spilled to the floor. Hydrokinesis wasn't very useful, but he could create water, although it did hold an unappetizing aftertaste. "Water."

Holding his hands apart, as if he was holding a large orb between his palms, Saiki began producing electricity confined by the bounds of his fingers. He was concerned when his conductive powers were primarily indigo in color, but it certainly was close enough. "Lightning."

Saiki stopped producing bolts and began to move his hands closer together, only a tennis ball's width apart. This one was difficult. Saiki exerted extensive pressure between his hands, and used his telekinesis to violently swirl the air between his hands. He was only barely able to control the power and immediately dispelled the power before the miniature tornado could form any further. "Air."

"Apparently this means something? I am not sure. She didn't exactly elaborate." Saiki falsely confessed.

[Oh, that's smart.] Neo praised. [You made your semblance into 'Dust creation'. Powerful, but if you mess up with one of your other powers, you could actually say it was some random combination of your powers.]

' _This is powerful?'_ Saiki perplexed. The four forms he showed weren't particularly powerful-looking, so is that simply how Dust is perceived? However, that was the effect he was going for.

"…That certainly is quite the rarity." Ozpin admitted. Tapping a nearby button, the noise of a ringing phone could be heard.

A female voice spoke after the call was answered, "Yes, Ozpin?"

"Glynda. We have two late arrivals. Could you take them to the training area to hold a physical examination and test? And you'll understand why when you see them." Ozpin requested.

"…Of course. I will be there in a few minutes. I expect a full explanation then." The female voice replied. The sound of high-heeled footsteps could be heard before the call then hung up.

"There you have it. I will be accompanying you for your makeshift initiation." Ozpin iterated. Saiki and Neo both stood up, the former taking a slight bow.

"Arigatou. Uh. Thank you." Saiki said, cursing his tongue for falling back on his native language.

Ozpin, who was getting up from his chair to join them in the elevator, had his eyes widen in realization. "You certainly know how to speak our language compared to your friends."

"I have had more practice." Saiki, thinking that this conversation needed to end, asked, "Do you have any headache medicine, by any chance?"

While this statement was true to some degree, Saiki was prioritizing finding a way to stop further lines of inquiry. Head pains would discourage more talking, probably.

' _This is such a pain.'_ Saiki inwardly complained.

[Oh!] Neo suddenly exclaimed in thought. [I know what my made-up last name's going to be!]

「And I don't want to know.」 Saiki replied, not exactly sure how this chain of events would turn out.

-Ψ-

Much later into the day, when the sun had already gone down a few hours ago, a large gathering of students, faculty, and people with little else to do in their spare time were standing around in any open space of Beacon's large amphitheater.

To the side of the crowd, being held back by Glynda Goodwitch, were the only familiar faces. The line they were a part of was progressively getting shorter, with teams of four going up one at a time for their official team announcement.

Normally, this process would have been held shortly after the day of their initiation. However, due to the death of Toritsuka Reita, the administration surrounding the event had significantly slowed down. It certainly didn't help that with his death, there was now an odd number of entering students, confusing team creation altogether. By delaying the process by a day, it allowed both the faculty and the students to recover from a death, despite how ludicrous the circumstances of it were.

From the odd number, Beacon's faculty had to reevaluate the balance of the students. This left the composition of a few of the teams still up in the air, as the faculty chose to treat the chess relics as a formality, not every team being joined by virtue of their particular piece. Teruhashi was heavily implied to resign afterwards as well, which complicated the process further.

However, when the teams began forming, doubts began slowly quelling as the flow began its routine once more.

After the creation of Team CRDL, four more huntsmen-in-training approached. Ozpin addressed their names before they came onto the stage as, "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you do have the same chess piece as the white rook piece. From this day forward, you will work together as team Juniper."

After a brief applause, Ozpin announced their leader, "Led by Jaune Arc."

Understandably, there was confusion amongst the clapping crowd as to why Pyrrha Nikos, a famous warrior already, was not given the position. Even the man in question was confused, but Ozpin stuffed his confusion with a simple congratulation.

After Jaune was embarrassed by being pushed aside accidently, the remaining students that had yet to be assigned grew anxious. Kaidou looked nervously between the currently stalwart Kuboyasu, Teruhashi who was holding back her apprehensions perfectly, and Ruby who seemed to share his nerves, or lack thereof. He took a quick glance behind him to Blake Belladonna, who was a mysterious girl with a large bow in her hair, and Weiss Schnee, who stood apart from the group with the back of her white hair facing them. His red eyes also flickered to Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's sister despite looking nothing alike from her body proportions to her shining yellow hair.

The fact that there were only seven of them only added to Kaidou's discomfort. He was curious who would be his partners for the school year, an innate excitement that even Toritsuka's death did not unhinge.

It certainly was awkward when Glynda had to slap Kaidou on his head when he didn't pay attention to his name being called. Upon reconciling his sanity, Kaidou confusedly walked to the stage as Ozpin called out the rest of his team's name.

"Blake Belladonna, Shun Kaidou, Ruby Rose, Aren Kuboyasu, and Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin rattled off as Kaidou glanced back at Teruhashi and Weiss, who seemed to share his concerns. Before he could speak up, Ozpin silenced him by holding his hand up. "Other than Miss Xiao Long, you retrieved the white knight pieces. And so from this day forward, you will be Team Raspberry. Led by Ruby Rose."

"I understand your concerns." Ozpin immediately added, an attempt to address the whispers infecting the entire crowd. Ozpin took a moment to explain, "Miss Xiao Long, your partner was faced with an unforeseen accident."

Slight irritation and sorrow rushed through everyone in the amphitheater as Ozpin continued, "So for now, I intend to have you act as a fifth member unless other accommodations are made. If you wish to talk about this further, I will make myself available after the ceremony, but for now, I would like to ask the final team forward."

While their curiosity wasn't quite sated yet, the newly formed Team RASBY stepped aside, expecting answers to come soon. Ozpin, as they made their move, called out, "Weiss Schnee, and Kokomi Teruhashi."

The two aforementioned girls walked themselves to the center of the stage amidst the murmurs spreading across the gathered crowd. After all, why would you announce a five man team only to introduce a duo? It seemed like a serious oversight to those that were not part of the loop.

Ozpin sought to rectify their confusion. "I'm sure you two are as confused as a number of people here. However, it seems that in the short time between orientation and today's proceedings, there have been two new entrants into Beacon's student body."

The crowd exploded into commotion before instantly quieting out of a knowing respect. "While there has not been any precedent for this, I can assure their abilities are sufficient for permission of entry. And so, I shall remake my introduction."

"Weiss Schnee, Kokomi Teruhashi." Their respective portraits were added to the floating screen, on opposite ends. While Ozpin's pupils looked curiously around the room, he nonetheless added a name to the list, "Neopolitan Sunday."

Suddenly, a tricolored blur dropped dramatically onto the stage from an unknown height, no one currently looking up. As Neo's picture joined to the side of Weiss's, the smaller girl made a tumble from her fall and positioned herself into a court bow to the audience.

Immediately upon seeing her the crowd thought that Neo fully embraced the silly name that was she was given.

Hopping into line with Weiss and Teruhashi, Neo gave a wave to the two of them. Weiss rolled her eyes apathetically as Teruhashi tried to smile back, much to the excitement of a number of male audience members.

Ozpin shook his head, and seeing the final student walking to the stage in a normal fashion, he cleared his throat.

"Kusuo Saiki."

Saiki disliked his name being read given name first, and apparently it was perfectly acceptable to voice his concerns. However, his classmates ended up following the more common trend and Saiki relented out of wanting to not be different.

As soon as Saiki's name was called out, Kaidou and Kuboyasu both rushed to the forefront of the stage and yelled out, "Saiki?"

All three girls on stage turned back to Saiki, but only one of them muttered under her breath in pleasant but monumental surprise, "S-Saiki-kun?"

Saiki made his way to the lineup indifferently as his green glasses-clad portrait fit itself between Neo's and Teruhashi's portraits, simultaneously finishing their four initials as WNKK. Ozpin, finding this satisfactory, announced, "From this day forward, you four will comprise Team Wink. Led by Weiss Schnee."

Saiki heard his indicated leader think, _'Yes!'_

While the psychic grimaced that his white-haired leader may eventually make the connection to the break-in of her home, Saiki was glad that at least for now, that was not a concern.

Ozpin attempted to give his closing remarks but was interrupted as Kaidou and Kuboyasu both ran past Saiki's accepted area of personal space. With happy sparkles in their eyes, the two of them shared their elation in Japanese.

While Saiki garnered his annoyance, he felt a powerful migraine quickly growing. _'Shit. Not this again.'_

「Neo, could you use an illusion on me and handle this for a moment. Me staying silent should be normal enough for them.」 Saiki requested. Once he felt himself go transparent, he dropped to one knee in pain.

[Being silent works for me. But I hope this relationship doesn't continue to be as one-sided as it is now.] Neo thought. Looking as Saiki clutched at his head in immense pain, Neo surmised, [I guess now's not really the time…]

-Ψ-

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin clearly iterated, but only on Saiki's right hemisphere. Still looking onto the ground, Saiki could hear Ozpin articulate, "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you would work together as Team RWBY. Led by Ruby Rose."

Even in his crouched position, Saiki could see a pair of brown boots and yellow socks turn as a female voice called out, "I'm so proud of you!"

Looking up, Saiki watched as the Ozpin in both of his eyes had merged into a deformed one, still standing in a relatively similar position. In his right eye, Kaidou, Kuboyasu, and Teruhashi weren't chittering at his illusion like in his left. His left eye could also point out Ruby, Blake, and Yang all standing happily on the sidelines.

' _Alright, I get it, I get it. I know what this annoying power is meant to be.'_ Saiki grunted as he stood up and motioned Neo that she could stop.

Without closing either eye, he could hear one Ozpin echo the other, "Looks like things are shaping up to be an interesting year."

' _Only in a more torturous sense.'_ Saiki added inwardly. His right eye cleared of the alternate vision and joined his left. _'Hm. There's probably a parameter for how long it takes for an event to affect me.'_

"Saiki? Are you alright?" Kaidou asked in their native language. Saiki assumed that his exasperation shone through from his expression. Saiki shook his head calmly in denial.

Seems like he has three priorities at the moment. First is finding a way back to his Japan. The second is to make sure that none of his remaining classmates died before the first is achieved.

And while this one isn't as important as the others, and would only serve to relieve his headaches to make sure he's never out of commission, the final priority was to soften the effects of his new powers.

And to do so, Saiki would need to fix the timeline that he broke.

* * *

 **Dang. Lots of stuff to talk about this time. Holy crammed plot progression, Batman!**

 **So. Underlined Japanese came back… alright, why did I kill off Toritsuka so early? Well, his death was set from the conceptual stage of this. I thought him being a ghost would allow for a lot more freedom for his part in the story. Unfortunately, without him, it left Saiki without anyone to share knowledge of his powers. Talking to a ghostly piece of trash is unhealthy for anyone.**

 **Which is probably why Neo stayed around as long as she did. The whole 'I can read your mind' to the 'I am mute' dynamic came secondary to giving Saiki basically a confession booth. Normally, the audience plays that role, but excessive fourth wall breaks could get tiring to read if not done right and I don't have the confidence in that. The visual component of manga also makes that aspect easier to integrate versus a fanfiction.**

 **But for the reason that Toritsuka to die is twofold. Firstly, Saiki needs motivation to actually do anything here. He wouldn't need to be concerned of their safety if they were basically attending a fancy school. And so, his natural conscious want of distancing himself from his classmates would always win out due to his competence as a character. Having him immediately be found by Winter, and by extension Ozpin, in the first chapter also wouldn't really make the story unique at all, and would give less leeway to actually develop this fiction's rendition of Saiki on his own.**

 **Secondly, Remnant is meant to be a world at war. Sometimes even I forgot that with the earlier volumes. Danger is meant to be something ever present, and I wanted this fiction to reflect the grimmer half of RWBY, even if the actual death doesn't entirely reflect that. At least, I wanted to get it out of the way before moving with the lighthearted bits.**

 **Also, the amount of times I wrote Toritsuka as Toristuka out of pronunciation habits annoyed me.**

 **As for team names, RASBY was a happy accident. WNKK was a hassle. A very annoying hassle. Nothing I came up with using their initials W, S/K, T/K, and N sounded like a color. I eventually gave up and used WNKK as wink. For the white sparkle effect some cartoons have for it or other color effects, but the primary reason is actually Teruhashi. If you watched Saiki's anime, there's a scene where Teruhashi sings her own character song for karaoke. It's literally called Angel Wink. And the background for that scene is really pink so there! Take that, color naming rule!**

 **Oh, forgot about this. Reviewers! Like all of you. Like seriously, you guys are nice people. None of you guys said anything bad, and I can't really express my appreciation because I suck at this. And since I recognize the names, it's real nice to know you guys are still with me here.**

 **And the final note for this chapter, giving a goal for this Disastrous New World. Of course, there are plenty of RWBY fictions of other characters following alongside RWBY's timeline. Some of them are done correctly (Joseph Joestar: Hamon Hunter, anyone?). But I wanted to give this fiction something unique that only Saiki's absurd powers could accomplish. And so, I created a variation of his precognition, which will be detailed later.**

 **This leaves the story dealing with the ramifications of Saiki's actions and him desperately trying to make everything actually go back to the normal timeline from the altered timeline. I dunno, I thought that sounded cool.**

 **Next time on** _ **A Disastrous New World for Saiki Kusuo**_ **: Another perspective.**


	8. Chapter 8: PSIde Story: Initiation Act 1

**「** **Wait. Why am I in… ah. Alright. If you actually paid attention to the last chapter, you should know that these quotes mean that I am Saiki Kusuo. It seems that I'm not actually going to make an appearance in this entire chapter… or the next, other than this little insert. It seems that is entirely focused on my classmates, so you can see how they messed up the timeline. It doesn't seem to be entirely important, but I guess you can go ahead and read if you don't mind that the main character isn't even in it. But at the very least, read the author notes at the bottom, somewhat important stuff down there as always.** **」**

 **「** **Huh. I thought for sure that someone else was going to join me here after that self-indulgent sounding comment… Anyways, the main cast of RWBY make their first real showing here. In any case, you can go read about what happened while I was suffering elsewhere. My canon counterpart, however, is not currently privy to most of these events.** **」**

 **「** **Finally, the author and I would like to thank you for your continued support. The second part of the 'initiation' phase will be going up soon since they were initially meant to be the same chapter until our stupid author realized how much he actually needed to write. Review responses at the bottom.** **」  
**

* * *

Beacon Academy. A school that honestly does not need any introductions because seriously, it's been done to death already. If you don't know what it is, then I don't believe you're coherently the story at this point, let alone the reason why you're trying to.

What I can say, however, is that today is the day before initiation. And only a day and a half after four very peculiar students found themselves on Beacon's campus. Which is honestly surprising considering how much has happened.

Two of which were currently waiting on the sidelines of Beacon's main avenue of entrance. Or in layman's terms, a really big mostly straight line of walkable pavement. Only one of which was anxiously dancing around with his feet out of anticipation.

Of course, the two did attract due attention from those who walked by them, noticeably young and wearing matching mint green uniforms. One group even approached them to wonder if they were lost on a school trip. After immense verbal fumbling, the two were left to their own devices.

Once again, the two watched in sheer awe as another wave of massive airships began docking at the end of the main avenue, a sizable airstrip made specifically for that purpose. When they had only experienced airplanes before, the fact that giant pieces of metal could be used for general public transportation, let alone flight, amazed them. And not because of the impossible economy that would surround such a purpose.

From this particular airship, there was something else worth attracting attention. A uniformed worker had been pushing a mid-sized crate off of the landing platform and was shortly followed by a suited man who seemed to be carrying a multitude of briefcases on a luggage cart. One of which was odd enough, but only the former was questionable.

Whilst the latter held marked cases for dust transport, no one could see a purpose behind the worker pushing around a crate with the insignia of a notably large weapon company. No one who attended or worked in Beacon would have need to send for a weapon before the semester even started, and repairs were often done in house.

Well, at least, if you were actually part of that routine.

"Kiitaaaaaaaa! (Translation: It's here!)" A voice resonated across the promenade and everyone took a quick moment to peek at its source. One of the two peculiars rushed off before the other could properly react.

Unfortunately, no matter quickly he rushed, Kaidou ran out of breath before even intercepting the deliveryman and was promptly carried by Kuboyasu who easily caught up. Much to his embarrassment.

Kaidou, after being dropped in front of the deliveryman, sputtered, "Ano… is it mine?"

The deliveryman looked surprised at the lack of skill Kaidou had in pronouncing simple words before promptly stuffing that emotion. "Kuboyasu Aren?"

The actual Kuboyasu raised his hand. Kaidou, who didn't want to be mistaken for Toritsuka and lengthen the process, stated, "Kaidou Shun!"

Once again put off, this time by Kaidou's intensity, the deliveryman sighed and offered his clipboard and accompanying pen. "Sign here. And here. Oh, and if your friend could confirm here…"

After confirming their signatures, the deliveryman carefully slid the weapon package off the cart before waving his goodbyes. Not wanting to wait any longer, Kaidou dug into the crate not noticing that he was taking up noticeable space in the main walkway.

Kaidou's face went red in pure ecstasy as he let out a few uncomfortable-sounding gasps. He proceeded to pull out a carefully boxed weapon from the larger crate. The basic picture of a clawed gauntlet was drawn onto the side of the box, which is how Kaidou recognized it. "This… this is really okay, right?!"

"Ah. Of course. I don't need the extra funds. Toritsuka did not use much either. And Teruhashi didn't want a weapon anyways." Kuboyasu affirmed as he pulled out a much slimmer box. He effortlessly swung the box in a way that the interior weapon punched itself out, catching the metal weapon before it could fly out any further. Kuboyasu thought it felt nice. It was top-of-the-line, and made of a condensed alloy for strength.

Overall, it was one demon of a baseball bat. Kuboyasu even asked for red flames to complement the black alloy. At the time of purchase, he chose the primary color to be that flame red but he forgot that he was fighting Grimm. Grimm don't bleed red.

Kaidou began the tear away at the packaging of his own box, uncaring to savor the moment. He excitedly shuddered as he felt his hand slide into the sleek metal and pulled out his hand.

Sure, it was only one gauntlet, instead of two. But its functionality more than made up for it. Kaidou even made sure to use lighter material so that he wouldn't have a disappointing where he couldn't actually carry it. Well, more like Miss Goodwitch was a very kind individual for pointing it out.

And the gauntlet, for anyone that could tell, was magnificently created, even for a weapon that was not personally built. Kaidou long had the details for his ideal weapon written down, so he took numerous privileges in creating his fantasy, to supplement his new ability to teleport and the presence of Dust.

The gauntlet didn't reach much more past his wrist, and the back of the hand featured a twistable silver button. By twisting it around, pockets were raised for the insertion of powdered dust to enhance the entire weapon. However, Kaidou did not neglect the more focused purposes, as the gauntlet wasn't just a fist.

It had claws. Long, sharp, pure ivory-colored claws. Each individual claw had a compartment for adding crystal Dust, accessed by bending the respective finger. An ability that could be done at any time. The white paint boldly complemented the bloody red of the rest of the gauntlet.

It was masterfully-thought out, and could only be appreciated by those who properly examined all of it. Or told extensively by Kaidou. Or if you were a 16-year-old prodigy that had an extreme penchant for weapons.

"Oh. My. Gosh." A female voice pronounced at Kuboyasu's side. Turning to its source, Kaidou and Kuboyasu saw a girl that for once, didn't look older than them. Kaidou inwardly complemented the well-designed red and black clothing and especially enjoyed the silver crosses. "I saw the box on the airship and I was curious but I didn't realize it actually something that _cool_ in it!"

As Ruby Rose was not one of the categories that caused Kaidou to get embarrassed, the chuuni stood up and posed to outline his weapon. It successfully worked to make it look cooler. It did not successfully make its user look cooler.

"Hmph. Of course it is cool. It is my Buradee Moon!" Kaidou announced loudly with his head leaned into the tips of the raised fingers of his free hand.

Immediately, everyone thought he was taking the world's situation too much in stride. He even dramatically pronounced 'bloody', people thought, unknowing that it was simply how Kaidou naturally pronounced the word.

Ruby Rose, however, too entranced by the weapon itself, merely said, "Whoaaaaa."

Kuboyasu felt a presence creep itself around him. Turning towards it, Kuboyasu's face flushed upon seeing an incredibly attractive blonde woman, dressed in a way that any Japanese person would immediately consider shameless if done outside the confines of professional cosplay. A blush that was only reinforced when he saw the incredibly content look on her face as she looked on Ruby's interaction with Kaidou. A look that only the mature could put on when they watched something or someone they were thoroughly proud of.

A look that was quickly dispelled with a goofy grin as Yang Xiao Long turned to Kuboyasu. Patting her hand on his shoulder, their heights barely being on par, she said with a toothy smile, "Take care of her, would ya?"

"Huh?" Kuboyasu responded dumbly.

Before the former delinquent could say anything else, Yang yelled out and successfully grabbed Ruby's focus, "Hey, Rubes! I'm gonna go meet up with my friends, you make nice and have fun! Bye!"

"What?" Ruby asked dumbly.

Before anyone could respond, Yang darted away faster than a bullet and joined a conversation with an unrecognized group.

For once, the resulting silence didn't last that long. Kaidou, incredibly pleased as someone shared his passion for his cool weapon, asked Ruby as best he could in English, "You want to see more cool things?"

At Ruby's subsequent nod, Kaidou retracted his non-thumb fingers from the claws and grasped a metal bar placed towards the center of the gauntlet. This was an action unseen by anyone present, which was a conscious decision. Gripping the bar carefully, Kaidou emphasized his next motions.

He pointed the gauntlet away from anyone else, remembering basic safety rules. Kaidou then dramatically swung his arm. Without his fingers for support, the claws all collapsed into one larger curved blade. A pure white sickle.

Using his free hand, Kaidou pointed upwards and bragged, "Now. This may not be too useful first thought. But!"

Kaidou dramatically slammed the pointing hand into the silver button on the back of Bloody Moon. Suddenly, the sickle launched with incredibly force, but at an angle where with slight manipulation, the blade could hook onto something. As there was nothing in the direction he shot, it awkwardly fell to the ground.

"This is ranged attack." Kaidou explained as best he could. "Can be powered by Dust to make it fire attack, too. Or something else. Because it uses Dust, you twist button."

Kaidou then twisted the button, revealing the chamber to store Dust. With that twist, the sickle/hook quickly retracted back into place. Forgetting his audience, Kaidou excitedly asked "Convenient, right?!"

Ruby's due fascination was interrupted when she wondered, "Benliwhat?"

Kaidou, forgetting the actual word, froze. "Ehto….."

Kuboyasu came in like a hero, and translated one of the very few words he memorized, "It is convienent, he said."

Ruby's mouth formed a small 'o' in recognition before nodding furiously in agreement. She then got a brilliant idea. "Do you wanna see mine, too?!"

Kaidou blinked, trying to grasp what she said. In realization, it was Kaidou's turn to nod furiously.

Ruby then produced a small red and black metal contraption from her back. Within a moment, the metal folded outwards in a spectacular fashion to turn into an intricate scythe larger than herself. Despite the size, she flawlessly spun it around.

"Kah- Kahkeh! Oh." Kaidou realized he let out his impression in Japanese again. Correction himself, he complemented, "That is cool! Super cool!"

"It also turns into a rifle!"

"Really?!"

Kuboyasu, content with watching the exchange, realized the three of them were getting curious and even spiteful looks. Loudly clearing his throat after Ruby transformed her scythe into a sniper rifle as to not compete with the noise, Kuboyasu meekly said, "Ah. Maybe we take this some other place?"

The two weapon enthusiasts looked around before looking downwards with red faces. Kaidou wasn't good with a veritable crowd's worth of attention.

Kuboyasu sighed. Throwing his much simpler bat into the crate, Kuboyasu felt Ruby's inspired eyes as he easily lifted the crate with one hand. "We should probably give Toritsuka his-"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" A shrill voice called out. Facing in the direction, the three of them witnessed an explosion of ice particles.

It didn't take too long to see the perpetrator chasing after a shady purple-haired character in a mint-green uniform. Even from decently far away, they heard Toritsuka scream back at Weiss Schnee, "What is wrong with you?! Huh?! I only called you a B! That's a pretty good score!"

Not stopping his clearly sexual harassment type of language, "I mean, are you mad you aren't higher?! Is it because your bra size is higher in the alphabet?!"

"Aaahhhh!" Weiss contemptuously shrieked.

Another explosion, this time in lightning flavor. Oh. And there's the fireworks.

Very few people chuckled. Kaidou and Kuboyasu both thought, ' _Why did he learn English so much quicker?!'_

Ruby, quick to voice her opinion, asked the two of them while staring at their uniforms, "Um… Do you-"

"No." They both said at the same time.

"Ok."

Kuboyasu then stated, "There is still twenty minutes until introduction. Let's go."

\- Ψ-

Ten minutes later, the three of them were still conversing amongst the growing crowd in the auditorium.

"Hmph. And that is why the hand that holds the Black Beat is used in combo with my Bloody Moon." Kaidou explained proudly. Kuboyasu was used to these antics by now, realizing exactly what Kaidou was but accepting him as a friend nonetheless. Just as Kaidou didn't care he was a delinquent, Kuboyasu wouldn't care. Much.

"Whoa. So is that Black Beat the name for your semblance? It's in your arm?" Ruby innocently asked.

"Ah." Kaidou muttered. Suddenly realizing that he didn't need his old fantasy anymore, he fully gripped onto the new reality. He hastily added, "My bad. Not my arm. Black Beat is name of my semblance."

Suddenly Kaidou was glad he didn't mention Dark Reunion. When the chuuni mentioned it to Ozpin whilst explaining his origins, his expression went slightly darker, and Kaidou realized that there might actually be a counterpart to Dark Reunion, much to his joy. But now he had to think up a cool move called 'Judgement Knights of Thunder' in case Ruby asks about it again.

Suddenly, a commotion began starting as the doors to the central amphitheater were opened. People standing near the doors began condensing at the entrance but slowly bending inside at a walking pace.

"Is it starting early?" Ruby wondered aloud. Her musings were silence when she saw what the crowd really was forming for. "Oh wow."

Teruhashi Kokomi finally emerged past the crowd of people. She disliked the level of boldness of the men here versus the number of herbivorous men in Japan. Having to come up a proper excuse in English was difficult, and Teruhashi was trying her best to maintain her perfect image. Luckily, there were at least two people that fit that description.

Approaching Kaidou and Kuboyasu, Teruhashi gave a light smile which prompted mass blushing. "Ofu… Teruhashi-san."

However, the two of them did slowly grow used to it and only quickly uttered the proper sound on seeing Teruhashi. Kaidou moved on quickly and beamed, "We're glad you made it!"

Teruhashi, not wanting to look unsure, energetically nodded, "Yeah, I'm looking forward to it."

Kaidou energetically bounced as he suggested, "I know that we have our own room and all, but Ozpin said there was a group sleepover! We should definitely go! We could meet our future teammates."

"Eh? But I'd rather stay together…" Teruhashi shyly confessed. While it also worked as a ploy to be cute, it was a confession that was mostly true.

Kaidou went red faster than a lit fire and could only mutter incoherent babbles for the next few _minutes._

Meanwhile, Kuboyasu felt an unhealthy number of glares pointed in his direction. A number which triggered a very scary face that only went unnoticed by his fellow Japanese. A look that silenced them further than the language barrier ever could.

Teruhashi understood that her interactions with Kaidou and Kuboyasu may draw them undue attention, but she needed to establish herself as their friend. They were the only ones she had right now. And without offense to them, that scared her.

The other one, however, will not be counted.

After all, a veritable crowd was literally rounded up by Teruhashi into the auditorium, almost every spare straggler outside the room either followed her or gathered out of curiosity for the growing crowd. Amongst which, an unrecognizable group of friends and a slightly jealous older sister were part of.

Ruby jumped up in shock as two hands strongly clasped onto her shoulder from behind. Without even needing to look at the hands, Ruby turned around knowingly to Yang.

"Dang, Rubes, and you were worried about not having friends. But hell, ya landed _her_." Yang, out of amusement, brought her hands up and down onto Ruby's shoulders.

Ruby, who could feel her height dropping with every pat, denied in a loud whisper, "No, no, she's their friend, not mine!"

"Oh, alright, but close enough." Yang shrugged. Looking over to Teruhashi in an analytical manner unlike her, Yang continued, "Well, at least I'm better in one regard."

Ruby raised an eyebrow in an unintended response, and Yang took that as a cue for her explanation, "I'm bigger."

Leaving Yang's complete failure at being subtle, the auditorium quickly descended in volume from avid talking to hushed whispers as Ozpin took central stage both figuratively and literally.

Now, Ozpin would give a short speech here. However, said speech will not be written. Because laziness and you know, you could watch it. If you haven't already. And in all honesty, it doesn't do anything right now. Moving on.

\- Ψ-

After giving instructions on the rest of the day's schedule once Ozpin finished his address, Glynda Goodwitch was approached by Teruhashi before the teacher could even leave the building.

Leaning in to whisper to maintain the little privacy she had as a pretty girl, Teruhashi asked, "Goodwitch-sensei, is it okay if I go down to the city for the evening?"

Being called a sensei was still unfamiliar to her, and Glynda was about to reject the request as students should at least stay on campus for at least the first day.

But Teruhashi's beauty didn't hide her eyes. What was yesterday's sheen of color was replaced with a cloudy, far-away look.

Glynda wasn't sure what Teruhashi would find in the city, and she doubted that the young girl knew either.

"Do you have your badge?" Glynda sighed.

Without looking up to meet Glynda's eyes, Teruhashi solemnly nodded, revealing the medium-sized pin that was fastened to her collar under her hair.

"In addition to being a tracker, it can call out to a separate device with the side button." Glynda informed while bring out another small gizmo from her pocket. It looked like half of a metallic tennis ball, with a secured chime underneath. "Take this, and when you get to the docking bay, ask around for a Roarkin. He should be the one on-duty right now. I'm sure he'll accompany you into the city but keep his distance if you would like."

Teruhashi gave a court bow, "Thank you."

"Just be careful." Glynda added as Teruhashi began walking away.

Teruhashi wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to do. She would probably need to ask her guide about it.

Maybe she'll ask if there's any good cake shops around.

\- Ψ-

"Are~? Where did Teruhashi-san go?" Kaidou asked in realization. After the address ended, students began filing out of the auditorium all at once, and Kaidou lost track of her.

Wait, actually. Kaidou lost track of everyone. "Are~? Where am I?"

In fact, Kaidou lost track of a lot more than just people. In just a short five minutes, he lost track of everyone. Looking at his provided scroll, Kaidou looked at a little arrow that should be representing him. Or at least, his tracker. "I thought I was going the right way… I guess I have to call someone…"

Kaidou paused in realization. He had no idea how to work this thing. Could he even call his friends? Did he have their numbers? Huh?!

Kaidou gulped. Bringing up his still weapon-equipped right hand, Kaidou stared into his weapon. "I can protect myself now, right? Right?!"

"There you are!"

"AAAH!" Kaidou turned around on a dime and immediately slammed the button and launched the sickle form of Bloody Moon towards the female voice.

Ruby yelped in response, and dove forward in a flurry of rose petals, her semblance barely giving her enough speed to dodge. "That was really dangerous! Kaidou, why?!"

"Oh no! Wait I…" Kaidou stumbled before putting on a false bravado and raising his retracting gauntlet to his face in a manner he thought was cool. "I have to apologize. It seems Ao got control of my body. It was a good thing it wasn't Jin or Ebony…"

Ruby blinked in confusion. "Huh? Ao? Jin? Who? Or what?"

Kaidou confidently pointed a clawed finger towards the girl who was picking herself up from the ground. "Seven personalities are housed within my vessel. I do my best to hold back the two insane personalities, and Ao's responses to fear are incredibly heightened. It makes him a fool in combat but excellent against assassination attempts."

"Uh. Okay. That sounds rough." Ruby replied, showing her denseness and inability in understanding Kaidou. "Wait, people have tried to kill you?!"

"Hmph!" Kaidou resounded before giving a light chuckle. "No. Not people. I doubt they would try. No, that's not what I meant. The Grimm are smarter than you think."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, fully serious on this one point. This, however, did not spur Kaidou out of his fantasies.

"It's been a long while. And it's not exactly a memory I would like to escape its burial." Kaidou said, thinking to himself, _'I bet that sounded so cool!'_

"Oh…" Ruby let out as she tapped her index fingers together. "I understand, my family had some pretty bad stuff happen, too…"

It was only now that Kaidou felt immense guilt. Wanting to get away to a lighter subject, he pointed at Ruby in spectacular fashion. "Hah~! Instead of worrying about the past, it is the future that we look towards! A future where I can see my Bloody Moon beating your personal scythe!"

Smiling, Ruby unraveled her weapon and twirled it around until the tip of the point was dug into the ground in Kaidou's direction. She didn't notice Kaidou's spine shudder for a moment, and said matter-of-factly, "Crescent Rose. She has a name."

'… _That's a really cool name.'_

\- Ψ-

"Shun?" Kuboyasu called out. While most people would refer to Kaidou by his family name, Kuboyasu had been friends with him long enough to call him by his given one.

Still carrying around the weapons crate was drawing him views but Kuboyasu didn't really pay it any mind. Scratching his head, Kuboyasu sighed, _'It's been five minutes, where did he even go? I wonder if Ruby found him yet, I remember he can get lost pretty easily… I hope Ruby has a better sense of direction.'_

Kuboyasu paused upon looking at the nearby bushes. Throwing aside the crate, Kuboyasu began walking up to a particularly disturbed part of the foliage. "What are you doing?"

Toritsuka poked his head out for a quick moment to motion Kuboyasu to shush, much to the former delinquent's chagrin. After quickly looking around, Toritsuka informed in a low strained groan, "That stupid ice girl saw me after the assembly and attacked me. Again. And for some reason, another B-grade girl joined her when I asked for B-girl's help. And she had a giant hammer. And that wouldn't even be good if it was between her legs, but it almost got between mine. What the hell is with the women here?!"

As Toritsuka forgot to be quiet with the last of his Japanese cursing, Kuboyasu rolled his eyes. Most of the time girls are running away from this guy but now they're running towards him. In anger. It didn't take much for Kuboyasu to guess how Toritsuka got a second girl to be mad at him. Deciding to ignore this incident, unless he ran across those girls, in which case he would promptly tell them where Toritsuka was hiding, Kuboyasu quickly grabbed something from the weapons crate before tossing it haphazardly to Toritsuka.

He didn't catch it.

Toritsuka rubbed his head as he looked at the offending item. Immediately gawking in realization, Toritsuka tore open the box to take out a pair of purple and silver binoculars.

"How exactly do you expect to fight with those anyway?" Kuboyasu asked in skepticism, since he was asking in Japanese, it wasn't like anyone would realize their true purpose.

"They have a flash feature to blind people that are chasing me." Toritsuka stated, as if it was obvious.

"I meant the Grimm."

"Ah. Well, the lenses are detachable bombs. It also can be folded…" Toristuka clamped the two sides of the binoculars together into a flat, sharp blade. "Into a dagger. I even asked the guys to put in some of my purification pearls in case a guardian spirit could hold onto it, probably."

Kuboyasu was surprised that the spirit medium put any thought into making it into a weapon. However, that probably wasn't anywhere close to his primary reason and Kuboyasu wasn't stupid enough to not realize that. "Well. Good luck."

Kuboyasu decided to look for a place to dump off the crate.

Toritsuka decided to look for a place to use his binoculars. _'Now where is the place the girls are going to change for today's sleepover?'_

\- Ψ-

Much later that night, after a particular incident in a sweets shop, a small helicopter-sized aircraft landed on one of the side docking bays. Glynda, after getting most of her organizational duties out of the way, decided that she would escort Teruhashi wherever she wanted to sleep. Whether she went into the communal hall or the temporary dorm was up to the girl, however.

The dark night was pierced as the airship doors open and a shining Teruhashi stepped out. How she managed to exert such presence without an aura was beyond Glynda's current understanding. However, Teruhashi's radiance didn't stop superficially as her expression seemed incredibly relaxed and pleased.

No matter if Teruhashi was exceptional, it was a great feeling to see a student being uplifted from their anxieties. Glynda supposed that a little fresh air worked out for the young girl, and felt the edges of her lips raise into a small smile.

Teruhashi took a quick moment to bow to Roarkin, a fairly large man with enough facial hair to make him look even more like a lion than his faunus heritage ever could.

Elegantly stepping her way in front of Glynda, Teruhashi seemed to gain a new enthusiastic fervor.

Smiling with a confident acceptance, Teruhashi made a request. "I know this is a little late. But, could you give me my aura?"

"Of course. I would be glad to." Glynda assured. Teruhashi was previously adamant about distancing herself from the action, but it was good seeing her in high spirits now. "And the technical term is closer to unlocking, not giving."

Teruhashi blushed at her linguistic mistake. Feeling as Glynda took up her hand, Teruhashi daintily laid her fingers on top of her elder's. As Glynda closed her other hand on top, Teruhashi could only describe the feeling as being _alive._ It was a feeling that she wouldn't ever be able to properly express.

Glynda watched as Teruhashi's aura sprouted. Sprouted was an appropriate term, as just with Teruhashi's classmates, sans Kaidou, the aura magnificently sprouted far past the average. And for Teruhashi, far past her classmates as well. Glynda marveled at the growing light, ignoring the fact that she could see a few rays of darkness mixed within. Soon, that light was no longer sprouting, but blossoming.

"My word. It's beautiful."

\- Ψ-

Teruhashi made sure to disable her aura before joining everyone in the grand hall where the students were designated to sleep for the night. She would already draw enough attention without it.

Her predictions came completely true as conversations stopped and pillow fights seized when the student body realized Teruhashi would be sleeping with everyone. Before long, there was a ring of pajama-wearing girls around her, acting as a buffer for the ring of lightly dressed guys and one in rather embarrassing footie pajamas.

Amongst the female ring, there was a blonde brawler equipped with pillows on her hands and her nightcap-wielding younger sister. Both of which were taking their role as bodyguards completely seriously as they had their arms crossed despite their fluffy armaments and sporting black sunglasses that would surely ruin their eyesight considering how dark it was.

At the very least, not everyone decided to flock to Teruhashi like pigeons. The people of this world had a much greater sense in terms of adaptation, so Teruhashi's innate beauty may make her popular but not entrancing.

Well, the same does apply to the people who shared a classroom with her for years. Well, sort of. Curses, Saiki, you make this more difficult with your world resets.

"This is a preposition apparently." Kaidou said, whilst tapping at a book in front of him. He was still wearing his red bandages but decided to take on a much more docile look, foregoing his school jacket altogether. He was okay with sleeping in his shirt, and he was lent some school-issue sweatpants. Luckily, there was one standard gray pair that still fit Kaidou's smaller stature without having to humiliate the young lad by wearing one with childish designs on them. No one decided to tell him it was women's size.

"Eh?! Not a pronoun?! Then wait, does that mean 'there' is a verb, too?" Kuboyasu questioned, earning incredulous looks from the people in earshot. Kuboyasu had an aversion to being shirtless out of embarrassment of his numerous battle scars. And so, he decided to take an identical approach to Kaidou in terms of sleeping clothes, with pants that appropriately fit.

Sure, Kuboyasu is the more sensible of the two. However, Kaidou does have an advantage in terms of academic ability. Or at least in the studying of academia. The amount of cram school that he was forced to attend was… actually just about the average a normal Japanese high school student would have to attend.

"…Aren. 'There' can be used for a lot of things. Verb is not one of them." Kaidou answered in exasperation, showing off his actual rational self. It probably helped that Kaidou was told to store away his Bloody Moon in a weapons locker like everyone else.

"Is it a proverb, then?" Kuboyasu asked innocently.

Kaidou let out an uncomfortable noise. "This is impossible. Learning is one thing, I suck at teaching!"

Kuboyasu wasn't sure what to do as he watched Kaidou slump against the wall their backs were against until Kaidou's silver hair was squashed against the floor. The textbook that was previously on Kaidou's lap awkwardly fell aside.

There was a single girl with a bow in her black hair that had been sharing their candlelight to read a book of her own, only of a much more fictional kind. Said girl felt uncomfortable with the scene happening near her but still stayed silent.

Kuboyasu was tempted to ask her for help, but his worries proved unneeded.

"Need some help?"

Kaidou's dead fish-like eyes looked upwards to the red-haired newcomer. He blushed upon locking eyes with her, subconsciously wondering why he was meeting with girls more often than those of his own gender.

While she was dressed plainly in a yellow T-shirt and black shorts, she gave off an air of professionalism. Unlike Kaidou, Kuboyasu realized that he probably preferred girls who let their hair completely straight down without adornment, even if it was a possibility that she was only doing so because it was late at night.

Kaidou, who quickly got over his embarrassment due to his chuunibyou nature, lazily raised an arm and said, "Please."

Kuboyasu quickly shifted over, plucking the fallen textbook at Kaidou's side. At the implications of his movements, the girl sat beside the former delinquent.

Kuboyasu realized he should introduce himself. "Kuboyasu Aren."

"Ehh." Kaidou grunted while still lying on his side. "It's the other way around. English people use given name first."

"Well, that's not true. Well, I'm not sure where English is, but some cultures provide their last names first, particularly in Mistral. I'm sure there are even a few students here that are addressed by their family names first." The girl informed.

Kuboyasu stared at her blankly. Kaidou, meanwhile, began slowly straightening himself as she spoke, but confusion is all that adorned his face. Explaining himself, Kaidou replied, "Ehto… could you repeat that? Too many words too fast. Sorry."

Before the red-haired girl could speak, the other girl that had been silently reading added in a deadpan manner, "Kuboyasu first is fine."

"…Ne. Shun. Is it late to change our names? Being called Aren by random people is going to be weird." Kuboyasu requested, looking at his tired friend.

"No, I think. But maybe later. After initiation, or some time later." Kaidou said in broken grammar patterns.

"Ah…" Kuboyasu hummed displeasingly. Turning back to the red-haired girl, he reintroduced himself. "Still. Kuboyasu Aren, then. He is Kaidou Shun."

"Shun. Kaidou." Kaidou corrected to Kuboyasu's ire.

"Yeah. That. And who are you?" Kuboyasu asked honestly.

The red-haired girl seemed taken aback for some reason. And much to surprise of the two Japanese students, so did the quiet girl behind her.

The two girls seemed to quickly shake off whatever had come over them, before the red-haired girl offered a hand and said, "Pyrrha Nikos."

Both Kuboyasu and Kaidou subconsciously blanched at how difficult the 'Pyrr' part of her name would be for them to actually pronounce, considering its complete lack of a parallel in the Japanese alphabet.

Kuboyasu thought that it would be a bit rude if he constantly mispronounced her first name, but habitually slapped his hand against Pyrrha's like he would with his old delinquent buddies. Kaidou, who had even less tact, was more preoccupied with why she seemed shocked about giving her name. He couldn't understand when people were clearly annoyed with him but Kaidou could over-analyze things because he watched more detective shows and anime than healthy people would. "Peeruha, why was you shocked about giving your name?"

Kuboyasu looked aghast as he turned back to the clueless Kaidou. Pyrrha brushed off the mispronunciation, mostly, despite something of that level rarely happening. The quiet girl failed to hold back her annoyance at Kaidou's terrible question formation.

"It's 'were'…" The girl mumbled.

Pyrrha then shook her hands in front of her to try and dodge away from the question. "Oh, no reason… it's just…"

Pyrrha was thinking about lying about the general culture before inwardly realizing that doing so might actually affect how the two people in front of her may act in the future.

Taking Pyrrha's failure to finish her sentence in a less humble interpretation, the quiet girl added in the deadpan attitude that the group began attaching to her, "Pyrrha Nikos, famous celebrity and fighter. Seldom accused of buying out fights as she can beat fully-trained opponents without taking a single direct hit in return. Appears on TV and cereal box covers, almost becoming a household name even outside Mistral."

Shifting her eyes away from her book for the first time in the conversation, the now less quiet girl subtly interrogated, "I would think any student coming into Beacon would know about her announcement to do so."

Kuboyasu suddenly felt too awkward to ask where Mistral was.

Kaidou was once again more willing to voice his opinions. "Eh?! That's really cool, isn't it?! Cool is the right word, yes? Is something better than cool?"

Kaidou's volume began trailing off as his thoughts became more focused on vocabulary. "Oh! Glory! That kind of thing is the representation of the glory of mankind!"

Kuboyasu failed to understand the implications of what Kaidou said but clapped anyways, much to Pyrrha's embarrassment, one that grew even more so than with just Kaidou's extreme exaggeration. The girl behind Pyrrha rolled her eyes, thinking about whether or not to move away.

Kaidou reached a hand over Kuboyasu's lap, and said, "It'll be fun working with you!"

After a much more appropriate shaking of hands than Kuboyasu's attempt, said former delinquent only just realizing and blushing at his overly comfortable interaction, Kaidou sat back in his place before requesting, "So could you start from chapter four? I will join at chapter nine but Kuboyasu needs more help."

Pyrrha blinked before she could process Kaidou's sudden loss of interest. Shaking her head to break away from that confusion, she nodded in response.

"Wait, that's it?"

Pyrrha thought that her feelings suddenly were voiced before realizing the true source. At this point, it seemed the girl behind her was paying less and less attention to her book. Seeing Kuboyasu and Kaidou's puzzled expression, she slightly blushed at her not entirely intentional outburst and explained, "No, no… it's just most people care about what others are…"

Quickly tracking back to the main issue, she continued, "Like celebrities like Pyrrha, I just thought I was going to need to move or something since I thought you two would just be gushing over her for a while, but Kuboyasu barely seemed impressed."

"…Huh?" Kuboyasu stuttered as he turned to Kaidou. "What did she say?"

Kaidou scratched at his head before explaining, "Uh… People care about the past, I guess? And that we would spend more time talking about Pyrrha?"

Kuboyasu, getting the gist of it, turned back to the black-haired girl and tilted his head. "Is that normal? I don't know, Kaidou teached me that the past doesn't matter."

"I did? What?" Kaidou said. Seeing as he was now the focus of three gazes, Kaidou shrugged off the nervousness from his inherent chuunibyou, and shrugged, "Yeah, Pyrrha being famous is really incredible. But we're all students, right? So instead of being like sensei and disciple, can we not be friends? Why would the past stop the present?"

"Ne." Kuboyasu's blushed face poked at Kaidou's attention. "How do you even say these things?"

Kaidou looked around with a neutral expression, seeing that his present company seemed to share a similar shade of red on their faces. "Huh? Did I say something weird?"

"Yes! You say things that only anime people would say!" Kuboyasu exclaimed.

Rather than be embarrassed, Kaidou put a hand over his face so his red eyes would peek between his fingers. "Hmph. Well, aren't we becoming that type of hero already? No matter what our past is, Kuboyasu, we're fighting for the future. That's good enough, isn't it?"

"Oi." Kuboyasu deadpanned. "You did that one on purpose… You did that one on purpose, right?!"

"Your emphasis means nothing!" Kaidou yelled.

"What does emphasis even mean?!"

Amidst their argument, the bow-wearing girl stood up, book in hand, to attempt to leave. However, the way she held the book left its title entirely in view.

Kaidou's eyes widened at the title, and instantly cried out in her direction. "Wait! Can I read that book later?!"

The girl's stride stopped before it even began as Kaidou continued to yell across the short distance between them, "As a man with six sub-personalities, I simply must know of the plight that beguiles those with two in order to understand what to do if one were to go rogue… so could I read it? Please, Madame… err…"

"It's just Blake." The bow-wearing girl finally introduced herself. Without a single hint at any feelings, Blake answered, "If I don't forget, you can read it when I'm done."

Kaidou pumped his fist, accidently uninhibitedly elbowing the wall. Kaidou then proceeded to cry like a child.

Before Blake could walk away from this nonsense… and think for a little while, one more thing interrupted her.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A C-CLASS WOMAN?!" A voice boomed across the hall. A voice that Kuboyasu and Kaidou recognized as Ruby's older sister.

"Because you definitely have abs, woman! That's not my kind of girl! Only your upper _upper_ body is worth any points!" Toritsuka's voice called out. "Kyah!"

"Excuse me! Some people are trying to sleep here!"

Whoever's voice called out that last thought was completely silenced as the sound of pillows violently impacting a human body at the speed of bullets reigned over the room.

"Do any of you know what's…?" Pyrrha began.

"No." Kuboyasu instantly interrupted amongst Kaidou's accompanying whimpered denials.

\- Ψ-

 **Well, that took a while to get out. For this little 'comment' section, I just want to say that this and the following chapter are probably the closest I'll be getting to the canon RWBY storyline. Basically, that was a stone that rolled down a hill. Saiki decided to stop the rock and throw it into space. This way, it can leave it more open for me to proceed without worrying about what's real in the actual narrative.**

 **Also, I would love to know if you could actually see the side characters here, since I'm not sure if I wrote them the best. For self-criticism, Kaidou isn't as pathetic, Kuboyasu is much more level-headed, Teruhashi is less confident, and Toritsuka is more verbal with his perversions. They're not pitch-perfect to their canon character descriptions, but I hope you can still see them as them.**

 **Overall, I hope it gives you guys some ideas to actually request omake scenes for that special chapter I mentioned back in Chapter 5. So far the only thing I've gotten is a real-life friend wanting to see a zombie invasion scene. If that doesn't tell you anything is allowed, I don't really know what will.**

 **Before I move on, review responses, which I can still do since I don't get many reviews! That sounded like a complaint but it wasn't…**

 **Raygha, thanks for the continued support, hope you keep reading.**

 **doaNUMBERS, don't worry about the whole integration thing, I may reference story elements but they're not going to be copy-paste whatsoever. It's going to be a mission to never watch a RWBY episode when writing about that particular point in the chronology. Meaning I may also forget things altogether. Tee hee. .**

 **oochya, wow. That's… wow. Heavy praise there and double reviews for it. Also, less of a lunatic and more a sadist is what I thought.**

 **Tsun, as funny as that would be and that Saiki could probably do it in all honesty, he doesn't really know how to fix it. It's been longer than a day so rewind doesn't work that way, and with the issues of control, the feat of rewinding the Earth by a year would probably mean it has to be exactly a year, so we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Also, the dynamic between Neo and Saiki works at all since Neo is basically an OC that just has headcanons going for her at the moment.**

 **Khorale, I apologize if the update wasn't as fast as you might've liked but it came out… even if this chapter isn't even about Saiki… or the next…**

 **Sorry for making you last but you work as a nice Segway, sassymelon, thanks for the praise by the way. As for your question, I mentioned in that chapter… or another one, I forget, that I decided to focus more on this story since I couldn't really write much more past a chapter 1. Which is why I'm moving onto a proposition:**

 **I don't know how many of you read these little after notes but…** _ **do you want a new fanfiction besides this one?**_

 **If you do, you can message/PM/review/whatever, if there's a particular thing you would want me to write, and I'll see if I would want to do it. As for my own possibilities, here are their descriptions:**

 _ **Saiki Kusuo: High School Esper. Anime X-overs & Saiki K: **_**Saiki Kusuo did not want to go on this stupid enrichment tour. Fate just enjoys tormenting him and using Teruhashi as a tool, doesn't it? Sigh, now he's got to go to different high schools across Japan and see what happens… whether known for their sports, romance, or specialties… (Multi-layered crossover, chapters involving Haikyuu!, Toradora, and where that Assassination Classroom content would end up, although not that much.**

 _ **The Disastrous Life of Saiki Kuriko**_ **.** _ **Non-crossover:**_ **Saiki Kusuo is dead. Sort of. Everyone at least thinks he is. Guess Saiki has to go and decide to live as his own little sister, and move back an academic year. How annoying.**

 _ **These Perfect Pretty Girls. Himouto! Umaru-chan & Saiki Kusuo: **_**If you know what these shows are, you know exactly what's going to happen. Wanna read about it anyways?**

 _ **Hal Jordan: Remnant Origins. Green Lantern & RWBY crossover. **_**So what is this ring supposed to do that Dust and stuff couldn't? Oh. Anything, huh? Alright then, then let's head out to the danger zone.**

 **These are the only ones past their preliminary drafting phase, maybe a Re: Creators/Saiki crossover may join them soon.**

 **OF COURSE, NONE OF THESE NEED TO BE CHOSEN. IF YOU WOULD LIKE, THIS ONE COULD STILL BE THE ONLY ONE YOU GUYS GET. JUST GIVING YOU PEOPLE CHOICES.**

…

 **No preview words this time, since it's just gonna be the second part. But holy shit, I wrote so much here, that I'm going to talk about more writing stuff in the next chapter. Mainly about Kaidou/Kuboyasu.**


	9. Chapter 9: PSIde Story: Initiation Act 2

**「** **Great. Another chapter. Maybe the next one will be stalled out more than just a month so my suffering doesn't need to be written down.** **」**

 **Wow, I'm bad at keeping up with the chapters aren't I? Meh chalk it up to summer laziness and attempting to write non-fanfiction in the spare time. Also, this chapter is most definitely NOT my best work despite being longer than the other chapters.**

-Ψ-

Kaidou was excited. Very much so.

After an uneventful trip to the locker room to equip themselves, Kaidou stood with a number of other first-year students at the edge of a cliff overlooking a large forest and ancient ruins of stone architecture. Students that would be his future… well, they already were his allies. Off to the side, Kaidou noticed Ruby nervously looking around and Kaidou gave a quick wave when their eyes met.

Ozpin was currently giving a speech about what the initiation process was, but Kaidou wasn't particularly paying attention. Soon he was going to be runn… walking into the forest below to strut his stuff. He heard Ozpin say that they were going to assign partners today based off of eye contact, and get some relics on the other side of the forest under supervision. Ozpin also said something about dying, but Kaidou was pretty sure he was just scaring everyone else.

Apparently, this initiation was going to be serving as a trial for him and his classmates so he would have professionals shadowing them for safety. Ozpin said he wasn't sure if Kaidou and others were actually prepared quite yet, as only the best were actually allowed to be in Beacon. Kaidou wasn't sure if he wanted to be the best.

But he wanted to be a hero.

"AIYEEEEEE!" Kaidou screamed pathetically as the metal plate he was standing on suddenly catapulted him. As he was at the end of the line, he was the first to be launched and Kaidou's sore lack of awareness bit at him.

Before Glynda could launch the next one in line, everyone heard the sound of someone planting themselves on metal. Turning to Kaidou's launched plate, everyone stared at the poor teenager clutching at it.

Kaidou, after spiraling a little while in the air, teleported back to the cliff and clamped himself onto the flat catapult. Still visibly shaking, Kaidou began calming down as people began staring at him with varying degrees of surprise, pity, and scorn.

Looking at Ozpin and Glynda, Kaidou nervously chuckled when Glynda shook her head in disappointment.

"Sorry…" Kaidou apologized as he let go of his ground. "I'll… just… go."

Kaidou walked to the edge of the cliff with his head hung low and teleported away into a random spot in the forest to cry.

-Ψ-

' _Gotta find Yang… Gotta find Yang…'_ Ruby thought to herself, sprinting off as soon as she landed from her own launch. She wasn't particularly worried about her evaluation, but more so, about finding someone that she could actually work with. ' _Ah, this is bad, really bad, oh what if I can't find her, what if someone finds her first?'_

' _There's always Kaidou.'_ Ruby's thoughts instantly shifted to other possibilities. ' _He's nice, he's kind of cool, but he wasn't really that good at fighting when we sparred…'_

' _Maybe Kuboyasu? I mean he looks like he can handle himself, and doesn't seem as exciteable as Kaidou. But I bet he's looking for Kaidou… and I don't want to get in the way of that…'_

Caught up in her thoughts, Ruby failed to realize the living obstacle crouched on the ground in front of her.

And so, she crashed into the object and tripped into the ground.

Quickly picking herself up with her arms, Ruby regretfully screamed, "Oh no! Did I just run over a squirrel?!"

Ruby, while young, was trained as a huntress. Auras were a very core part of that doctrine. As a physical manifestation of the soul, an aura works as a physical barrier that could protect from harm proportional to their size. That's why the Grimm could be deterred as well as they have been by humanity.

Of course, that means other organisms could hold auras as well, and Ruby could understand how it felt to break an aura using smaller organisms where even a finger prod could break their auras. And in this case, she knew that only something like a squirrel could have an aura so small that it was severely broken just by Ruby tripping on it even at her speed.

Which is why Ruby then had to question her understanding of auras when she saw Kaidou with his face painfully dug into the forest ground. "Kaidou…?"

' _That really hurt... I want to cry more…'_ Kaidou thought, with his face entirely in the dirt. ' _I guess Ruby's my partner… wait…'_

Ruby was about to help Kaidou up, perfectly accepting that he could be her partner even if she still preferred her sister. However, her effort was halted when Kaidou held up a finger despite still eating dirt.

"Mmph." Kaidou mumbled. Realizing he couldn't be coherent in this position, Kaidou tilted his head slightly forward so that his mouth was no longer in the ground but was still extremely close. "Wait, wait. Ruby, that's you?"

Ruby nodded. A few moments passed before she understood Kaidou didn't see that. "Yeah?"

"You're looking for your sister, right? Like how I'm looking for Kuboyasu?" Kaidou questioned.

"Uh-huh?" Ruby affirmed.

"We have not made eye contact! And I saw Yang above me while I was…" Kaidou stopped his explanation before he was about to reveal something embarrassing. Instead, Kaidou pointed in a different direction than where Ruby was headed. "She went that way."

"But it's okay if we're partners…" Ruby said, despite wanting to just run in the pointed direction. It would feel like she was just abandoning Kaidou.

"…It's okay." Kaidou stated, uncomfortable with a girl actually showing him kindness. "You go find your sister, I find Kuboyasu, and we all be on a team together. Deal?"

Kaidou hurt himself trying to hold a pinky in an awkward angle in the general direction of Ruby's voice. Feeling his pinky being shook and footsteps that went impossibly fast in the direction he pointed, Kaidou finally rolled over.

His eyes were red and his face was covered in dirt, and Kaidou just wanted to cry some more. But he needed to get up, he had a promise to keep.

"What are you doing, Shun?" Kuboyasu called out, having heard a conversation. "Were you talking to yourself again? Also, camouflage isn't just you putting dirt on your face."

"…Shut up." Kaidou denied, turning away to wipe away any remnants of crying. He also felt disappointed that Kuboyasu found him and not the other way around. "Let's just go, Aren…"

"Oh hello!" A cheery female voice called out. Looking towards the source, the two boys saw Pyrrha approaching them. "Have you two seen… Kaidou?! What happened to your face?! Are you okay?"

Kaidou began running away, trying to hold back more tears.

\- Ψ-

Weiss landed perfectly. ' _Well, that was only expected.'_

"Did I just run over a squirrel?!"

Weiss only barely recognized that voice as one of those two squealers on the main walkway yesterday. She had been thinking of scolding the two, but their third wheel seemed to have some sense of where he was. It would probably be a nuisance if she needed to interact with them at all.

Especially if she doesn't have the sense to avoid a squirrel.

Thankfully the direction she needed to go in was in the opposite way as well.

Given a few minutes of dashing through the forest, believing that if she walked it would be a detriment to her overall evaluation, Weiss was forced to stop.

Not because she met opposition, but rather because there seemed to be a very bright light emanating from her left, short of being blinding but almost as if there was a consistently burning firework. _'That shouldn't be the northern exit of the forest… but what else could be producing such a light besides the relic?'_

Abandoning her controlled run for a full sprint, Weiss quickly reached a clearing where she was met with a curious sight.

' _What? Isn't that…?'_ Weiss thought, seeing the girl who grabbed everyone's attention the other day. While Weiss was certainly hoping to be partnered with Pyrrha, the amount of people that this girl attracted made her a teammate candidate as well, but it would be difficult to track her landing pattern when Weiss was one of the first to be launched and Teruhashi had been the very last. ' _Teruhashi, was it?'_

That thought came secondary as Weiss just stared in confusion at the scene before her. There was a veritable horde of Beowolves that were actively slashing away at the huddling blue-haired beauty.

Well, rather they were slashing at the giant indented orb that was protecting her from their attacks.

Weiss wasn't sure whether or not to be impressed. Considering the patterns that the Beowolves were circling Teruhashi, the Grimm had clearly been at this game for a while, meaning that whatever Teruhashi was using was formidable. However, that strength didn't seem to carry over to her willpower as Teruhashi herself was cowering on her knees in fear.

And as haughty as she may be, Weiss wasn't going to let that fear continue.

Teruhashi lifted her head from her knees as she heard wolf-like cries of agony around her. She hated the situation that she found herself in and had been patiently waiting until her supervising huntsman would finally show up and save her. Thinking the moment had finally come, that hope was transformed as Teruhashi saw one of the girls she recognized from the cliff was tearing through those _monsters_ like they were paper.

The white-haired girl was handling her rapier just as well as Olympic fencers in Teruhashi's eyes, and her weapon seemed to sprout fire, ice, and lightning at what could only appear at random intervals to the combat novice. The sudden appearance and flawless integration of large circles of varying colors and fancy designs within their perimeter was a spectacle on par with the wonders Teruhashi had already bore witness to.

But even paper can cut, and even Teruhashi could tell that the amount of Beowolves that she herself had attracted with the noise and the light she had been producing was giving her fellow initiate trouble. But it hadn't seemed like she would lose the fight… even if Weiss would be a bit banged up afterwards.

Teruhashi was scared to help… the only means of help she could offer would rid her of the only thing separating her and the monsters.

It was something that she did not give up easily.

Teruhashi watched as Weiss backflipped through the air at a height she would never had thought possible, but what drew Teruhashi's trained eyes was the bleeding cut that opened Weiss's sleeve and arm. Her eyes weren't usually focused on things other than the expressions she would manipulate and the possible nuisances that could make their presence known when she was out for a walk, but it was difficult not to notice the splotch of red on Weiss's vestige of white.

' _This isn't what a perfect pretty girl should be doing, right? Princes are supposed to help their princesses but I'm more than just a normal princess…'_ Teruhashi wasn't sure if she was actually going to be of any help, but she resolved that she could at least give Weiss some room to recover stamina.

Stamina which Weiss would probably deny she needed, sweat heavily beading on her forehead. Without time to wipe the liquid away, Weiss prepared to do a spinning cut at the Grimm behind her before rolling away from the part of the horde she needed to backflip and escape from.

At least, that was the plan before Weiss was knocked off her feet, and stabbed her rapier into the ground to prevent any further momentum from one of the strongest gusts of wind she had ever felt. Noticing the Grimm had even less luck at protecting themselves from the bale of wind, Weiss could take the time to stare at the source.

"Holy…" Weiss's voice trailed off before she could commit an act of blasphemy to the Brothers. It seemed she was mistaken when the indents on the orb were caused by the Grimm. It wasn't an orb in the first place. But rather, Teruhashi's aura was _caressing_ her.

Teruhashi stood unabashedly as sizable shining wings composed of aura flapped once to straighten themselves, the wind they produced being appropriately less powerful than the full force of their opening.

Even the Grimm seemed to pause in wonder, although not for very long.

With an uneasy smile, Teruhashi had her wings draw backwards as Weiss braced herself. Before any of the Beowolves could come closer, Teruhashi panicked, disrupting her idea to just flap her wings hard again.

Instead, her panic caused Teruhashi's wings to slap all the remaining Grimm in front of her into a messy pile. Realizing she didn't need to brace at all, Weiss professionally recovered before summoning an icy white glyph encompassing the literal dogpile, and stabbed her rapier forward to create a large shard of ice to pierce through their black hides.

Teruhashi, who closed her wings defensively on instinct and closed her eyes, heard a voice say, "And I thought you were just going to sit there."

Peeking her eyes open, Teruhashi saw Weiss standing in front of her, expression recognizable as somewhat grateful, mostly annoyed. The latter emotion was something that Teruhashi had only got used to being directed at her from Saiki and that accursed child, Yuuta.

Weiss looked at Teruhashi's wings again. "Is this supposed to be your semblance?"

Teruhashi tilted her head before shrugging. "Probably? I had Goodwitch-sensei activate my aura yesterday and these are what came out."

Weiss was taken aback from that statement. "Wait, this is supposed to be your aura, then?! How?! …Wait… yesterday?"

Weiss's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "As amazing as this is, how could you even get into this school if you didn't even have an aura yesterday?"

Teruhashi stepped back nervously. "O-oh… well, that's a long story…"

Before Weiss could complain, Teruhashi continued, "And not in the long way as in me telling it, but you believing it… Ozpin said it was my choice to share it with my teammates if I wanted to in the future."

Weiss sighed, realizing that if Teruhashi as being truthful, this wasn't the time or place. "Well, we're partners now. But… I guess we can talk about after initiation."

Teruhashi just nodded in response.

"I'm guessing you have no idea where to go, do you?"

Teruhashi just nodded in response.

-Ψ-

"This. Is. Stupid." Toritsuka complained for the fiftieth time. Collapsing on the ground after his pants got caught on a twig for the fifteenth time, Toritsuka heaved his breath in and out. "So much walking…"

' _That stupid launch made the only ghost I had with me lose me. Where the heck is that person?! I probably should have asked his name, we've been stuck on a different world for a few days now. At least he was a gymnast, apparently. But where the hell are the ghosts on this planet?!'_ Toritsuka inwardly yelled.

Toritsuka could have gotten help. He spied some green-wearing Chinese-looking person with a pink highlight in his hair earlier. But there was the hammer girl following him on a tree above him and Toritsuka was too scared to approach at all out of fear for what was between his legs.

"Ne! Isn't someone supposed to be watching me?! Can I time out?!"

After no response for a good while, Toritsuka sat back up so that the bush he had been pressing down raised with his body, and enveloped him in the leaves. After a futile attempt to brush the foliage off, Toritsuka sighed and lowered his head.

His head then got horribly kicked.

"OW! What's the big idea…" Toritsuka stopped speaking as he came face to face with a big black bear wearing a stupid mask. "Grim thing, right?"

Toritsuka instantly got up, and with the fear of Saiki-san in him, ran away in a full sprint. Which still wasn't very fast, allowing the Ursa to follow closely behind, roaring all the way.

"Saiki-saaaaaaaaaaaKUPLEH" Toritsuka's pitiful cry for help ended as he jumped over another bush into a black obstacle. Realizing the proximity of the Ursa behind him, Toritsuka quickly scrambled on top of it.

For a moment, he felt safe. But as soon as you read black obstacle, you probably already had an idea of what just transpired.

Toritsuka lolled back his head as the thing he clambered over began growling. But before anything else could happen, the Ursa underneath him began flying backwards, crashing into the other Ursa.

The sudden momentum shift caused Toritsuka to fall backwards and look up to his savior that kicked the Ursa away. And then he blanched when he realized he was in even worse trouble.

"Oh. Guess who decided to drop in." Yang said, cracking her knuckles with sadistic smile.

Giving a nervous chuckle, Toritsuka tactlessly asked, "Was that supposed to be a bad pun?"

Toritsuka's ensuing pain was worse than if an ambulance were to run over his head, as he once again lamented how much more hostile this world, and especially the women, were.

"Mea-OW!" A howl of pain interrupting whatever was supposed to be said came from above the two of them. Despite Toritsuka's pain, he quickly scrambled to the side before two teenage girls made impact into the ground he was previously on.

On second thought, the girl on the bottom side fell chest-down. Toritsuka should definitely have sacrificed himself there.

Ruby quickly got off of the black-haired girl under her. "I'm so sorry! How did this happen twice in a row?! I mean, you were in a tree, I couldn't expect that… wait, no, this is still my fault!"

Looking up, Ruby squealed as she made eye contact with her sister, "Yang!"

"Sorry. Bit late." Yang replied, pointing a heavily clenched hand's thumb over to a bruised Toritsuka. He waved as he looked Ruby over.

"Oh." Ruby sadly said.

"Then I guess that means we're partners, then." The girl Ruby fell on calmly got up and brushed herself off. As Toritsuka kept looking between them, she then proceeded to hold out a hand towards Ruby. "Blake, by the way."

"Ok." Toritsuka mumbled with his eyes closed, not knowing he got the attention of present company. Yang prepared to punch him, realizing what was happening. "Neko, cat girl gets an A. Full body, good curves, probably lean muscle."

Blake would feel offended… well, she did feel offended but she flinched at her nickname. "What do you mean cat girl?"

Toritsuka opened his eyes, realizing he was talking aloud. _'Dammit, the girls here are way more sexy that I can't help doing this. But they're all sadistic, and I'm not particularly one for that kind of play.'_

"Oh. I'm just called you that because the noise you made before you fell sounded like a meow." Toritsuka brushed off. "Not to mention that bow of yours makes you look like a cat, which also adds points."

Alright, now Blake only felt offended.

"But your new partner…" Toritsuka began, not noticing Yang's menacing knuckle cracking noises. "You two make an amazing combination. She gets an S… young, cute…"

Toritsuka began trailing off with a disgusting look on his face, not wanting to go into the parameters that may possibly be offensive, for some reason unbeknownst to him. Despite the nasty context of his words, Ruby blushed anyways.

The next few words Toritsuka whispered under his breath, but Yang, who had still been in close proximity, managed to hear them. "I would definitely like to do it with her."

Blake and Ruby could feel Yang's vein pop from anger even from a few feet away. "Hey."

Toritsuka momentarily ended his fantasies from the word clearly meant for him and looked towards Yang questioningly.

"You would definitely like to do _what_ with my sister?" Yang asked with a very hostile tone.

"Kyah. Don't make me say it. It's embarrassing-" Toritsuka's blush drained out of his face as he became pale. "Your… what?"

Yang gave a demonic grin. Toritsuka, who felt a fear on par to which he had for Saiki, decided to make the most of his last moments, metaphorically for now. As Yang winded up her arm, Toritsuka turned to Ruby and bowed. "Please go out with me!"

"Eh? No, thank you."

"GAH!" Toritsuka responded, devastated metaphorically by Ruby and literally by Yang. As his body began flying out of the trees, scraps of clothing, and a bent metal badge flew from Toritsuka's person.

"You two can go ahead." Yang said, with a sweet tone. "There seems to be another monster in the forest that needs to be exterminated."

As Yang began walking away, Blake held out a hand to try and stop her before Ruby put her own hand on top of hers. Looking to her new partner, Blake saw Ruby solemnly shake her head, as if the young reaper had witnessed her sister on these rampages in the past.

"By the way, do you know where to go?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. Wait, did you get lost?" Blake wondered.

"No…"

\- Ψ-

Toritsuka felt all kinds of wrong. Although one of those emotions wasn't a disgust for himself, only for the world. His body was in immense pain, his stamina was completely drained from all the walking, his spirit and virginity was in pain that he may never find a nice pretty girl like Ruby to f… date, and he realized he didn't take a shower this morning so he felt dirty compared to his normally clean self.

Oh, and Toritsuka was currently using his dick-shaped aura to stick himself into a tree.

With his head facing into the tree in more ways than one, Toritsuka found himself in a difficult spot as there was a lot of empty space between the height he was attached to and the actual ground, without a singular branch to grasp onto. Well, maybe. Toritsuka was having difficulty seeing, as he was stuck among the leaves of the forest canopy.

Toritsuka used his aura to stick into a tree but it had never occurred to him to use his aura to soften his descent.

' _Well, I guess I can just stick here for a while until I have the energy to climb down.'_

Toritsuka felt like the gut he was punched in could be caved in just if he tried to eat something. And more than just his pride got knocked out of him. This day sucked, but he wasn't about to jinx it by saying something about it.

Which still failed.

"AIYEEE! Saiki-san! WHY!" Toritsuka desperately yelled, as he felt himself be plucked away by something very large.

Even if his soul was tainted, his aura was still fairly powerful as Toritsuka watched what appeared to be talons clawing away at the front of the cylindrical part of aura.

With the rate his aura was trying to be torn into coupled with the sheer height in which he was ascending, Toritsuka didn't notice the clothing around his nether regions becoming wet.

Down below…

There was a pair of students that were proceeding on after dealing with two snake-like King Taijitu. The one with the giant hammer poked at her male partner, wielding much slimmer green SMGs. "Hey, Ren! Doesn't that Nevermore kind of look like it has a dick?"

Looking in the direction his partner was facing to stop her incessant poking, Ren stated, "Nora. Grimm don't reproduce in that… actually, it kind of does."

"Right?!"

On the cliffs…

"What do you mean you lost him?!" Glynda yelled into her scroll.

A scruffy voice answered back. "The badge we put on the kid broke, I'm looking at it right now."

"But didn't he already find his partner?!" Glynda yelled back.

"Quit yelling." The voice answered back, knowing that he was still addressing a superior. "Yeah, whoever that girl was, I forgot her name, decided to punch him into next week. That's why I lost him at all."

Ozpin decided to voice his concerns. "Glynda."

"What?"

"I think that Nevermore has ahold of young Toritsuka."

"What? How would you- oh." Glynda looked forward to see a Nevermore desperately scratching away at Toritsuka. Instructing loudly into her scroll, "Gaoh! Get into the sky now! He's on a Nevermore!"

"Which one?"

"What do you mean, which one?! There's only… oh no." Glynda clutched at her scroll as she saw a small flock of five Nevermores coming to join the one assaulting Toritsuka. "What is going on…?"

"There has to be an influx of negative emotions, either here or possibly in the city." Ozpin offered an explanation. "At the very least, Toritsuka had the strongest aura in terms of defensive capability."

"Well, at least that accursed shape did until Teruhashi unlocked hers." Glynda corrected.

"Right. It seems he's manifesting it perfectly well, and help should arrive within due time."

Glynda was about to object, but she noticed Ozpin cling harder to the tip of his cane than normal and decided to stay silent for now.

Back with the destined to die…

"Shit. Shit. Shit." Toritsuka repeated in his panic. "Wait!"

Toritsuka fumbled around his pockets until he touched metal. Carefully taking out his binocular-shaped weapon, Toritsuka pointed it towards where he thought the face of whatever was holding him was and clicked the flash.

But as it was broad daylight, and he was pointing it towards the sun, barely any light seemed to be emanated. _'Crap.'_

Thinking about chucking one of the lens bombs, Toritsuka dismissed that possibility thinking that it would hurt too much at the close proximity, once again forgetting how auras worked.

Instead he collapsed the binoculars on itself to make it into a dagger. Turning himself around the try and stab at the underbelly of whatever Grimm type was taking him, Toritsuka yelled out, "Take this!"

With all the force he could muster, Toritsuka stabbed into the Grimm. However, his inexperience in actually gripping a dagger caused him to lament the laws of physics. The moment he made contact with the black skin, the opposite force knocked away his dagger onto the forest floor.

"Okay. Seriously. Seriously!" Toritsuka complained.

"Hey!" A voice called out.

Looking to his side, Toritsuka saw the middle-aged man of a spirit besides him. "Where the hell have you been?!"

"Sorry. I was having trouble finding you…"

"Whatever! Get in me!" Toritsuka begged.

The spirit nodded before jumping into Toritsuka's body, and displaced Toritsuka's own spirit. The spirit seemed to give a confident smirk to where Toritsuka was floating.

Toritsuka suddenly felt a thousand times grateful for this guy. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Satou Ishikawa." The spirit responded with a hefty voice, Toritsuka's vocal cords being exhausted from all the screaming.

' _Yeah, I'm totally going to forget that.'_ Toritsuka thought.

Satou deactivated Toritsuka's body, and despite the toll Toritsuka had taken, the ex-gymnast could use Toritsuka's much younger body to balance himself on the Nevermore's talons, which had grown accustomed to the dick shape.

Before the Nevermore could try and slash Toritsuka's body, Satou dived off towards the ground much to Toritsuka's fright. _'Ex-gymnast or not, what kind of human being does that kind of bullshit?!'_

Attempting to catch up to his own body, Toritsuka saw a yellow blur shoot out from the trees. _'Oh crap, she's not still mad, right?!'_

Satou saw a red-eyed Yang barreling towards him at impossible speeds. Although the spirit had no clue who she was, Satou felt Toritsuka's body freeze in an instinctual fear.

Passing him in the air without a clue, Yang smirked, "I got this one!"

Yang's momentum carried her directly into the Nevermore, giving her ample force to punch the Nevermore in the face-beak. Hard.

With the laws of physics being softened around Yang, instead of shooting backwards, she started floating back downwards as the Nevermore spiraled out of control towards its brethren.

Seeing the damage the initial Nevermore caused to the formation, Yang celebrated, "Strike!"

As for Satou, he could no longer feel proper muscle control anymore and panicked. Thinking as quickly as he could, Satou reactivated Toritsuka's aura but still took plenty of damage when he landed on his feet out of a gymnast's habit. Feet which were the least protected part of Toritsuka's entire aura.

Feeling his legs give away under him from the pain, Satou realized he probably wouldn't be able to walk for a while. "Toritsuka, I think it's alright now!"

Hearing the bushed ruffle behind him, Satou turned towards the noise thinking Toritsuka was coming to meet him.

At least until he remembered that spirits like him don't make noises like that. Satou was an average man who didn't experience the paranormal and had been sheltered in a much more indoor life due to his immense flexibility.

Nevermores were scary, but Satou just saw them as big birds. Scorpions, on the other hand, were something that humans naturally feared.

And seeing one the size of a small truck emerge from the bushes caused dividends.

Compounding on Toritsuka's fear of being thrown around by the Nevermore, the instinctual fear caused by Yang, Satou's fear of seeing the Death Stalker Grimm-type had been too much.

\- Ψ-

"Huh?" Toritsuka mumbled. He heard his own voice call out his safety from down below, while he himself was actually impressed that Yang could direct her violence elsewhere. And do it pretty well.

For once, he was glad that he got Yang as a partner.

Floating downwards at a similar pace to Yang's, Toritsuka saw shiny particles drifting away with the wind. Shiny particles that as a spirit medium, he had seen before.

"Satou?!" Toritsuka abandoned his floating to dive straight down to where he heard his own voice.

Under the canopy, Toritsuka bit at his spiritual lips as he saw his body, legs bloody for whatever reason. But more importantly, there was a giant scorpion Grimm next to him.

Toritsuka dove into his body to roll out of the way.

SPLCH.

Toritsuka heard a muffled noise above him, as he realized that instead of entering his body as he always did, Toritsuka dove straight through, into the ground.

Peeking his head above the ground, Toritsuka found nothing where his body and Grimm previously were. Flying upwards, Toritsuka worriedly looked around.

But all he could find was a bloody splotch on the ground. "Oh that better not be what I think it is."

\- Ψ-

"Chess pieces?" Weiss wondered aloud. Looking around the pedestals of the remains of a temple-like structure, Weiss grumbled in annoyance. "Guess we weren't the first ones here."

Teruhashi walked besides her holding the white queen piece.

"Huh. Nice choice." Weiss commented.

Before they could begin walking away, a new pair made their way to the relic site. The orange-haired girl wearing a white shirt with a heart cut into it and a pink skirt waved excitedly at the two girls. "Hey!"

In an instant, which thoroughly freaked out Teruhashi, Nora was in front of the white rook piece and grabbed it. "I'm queen of the castle!"

"It's called a rook, actually…" Teruhashi corrected.

"But it's shaped like a castle, so a castle it will be!" Nora stated, holding the piece proudly above her head. Ren walked up from behind her and put his hand on her should in an attempt to calm her down.

It failed.

"Oh hey! Look! Now there's a bunch of Nevermores!" Nora yelled out, pointing into the sky.

Seeing the difficulty the flock could pose in battle, Ren and Weiss simultaneously said, "We should probably go."

While Ren didn't look towards her, Weiss suddenly felt glad that there was another competent person here.

A happiness that would only be reinforced when Weiss heard the voice of the famed 'Invincible Girl.'

"Oh, I think we're here!" Pyrrha excitedly called out to her three companions. Turning to the four that were around the temple ruins, she waved, "Hello!"

Teruhashi felt slightly relieved as she saw Kuboyasu and Kaidou walking towards their group.

"Oh man." The fourth member of Pyrrha's party, a blonde male wearing white armor over the upper chest area of his black hoodie and jeans, complained. "I guess it really wasn't in that cave."

"Jaune, I don't think they would be that stupid to put the relics in some random dark cave." Kaidou gave his insights. "In this situation, you're supposed to put the relic _s_ in some open place so a bunch of people could meet and then be teammates with one another."

"Kaidou. Anime logic does not work everywhere." Kuboyasu retorted.

"It's been working pretty well so far." Kaidou grumbled.

The new members of the crowd looked around at the assortment of chess pieces. Kaidou, in realization, said, "Oh, I want to be the black knight! Wait, the white knight would be more heroic, right?"

As Kaidou plucked the white knight, Kuboyasu asked, "Since there's two pieces of everything, isn't that how they pick teams? Couldn't we rig it right now?"

Everyone proceeded to stare at Kuboyasu. Nora was the first to speak up, "Well, what's the fun in that?"

"Well. Wouldn't it guarantee you wouldn't get stuck with people you hate?"

Everyone looked upwards to the new voice. Blake was standing above them, and would've looked decently cool with that entrance if she wasn't carrying Ruby over her shoulder like a towel. Before anyone could ask, Blake explained, "She tried to hitch a ride on a Nevermore."

Weiss blanched at Ruby's stupidity. The two newcomers dropped down to make the group count ten.

"Hello Blake." Pyrrha gave a small wave.

Kaidou scratched at the back of his head as he walked towards a now let-down Ruby. "Guess you didn't find your sister, huh?"

"No, I did…" Ruby shook her hands in front of her to alleviate Kaidou's guilt. "She just found somebody before I did. But hey, Blake is really cool, too! She's like a ninja!"

Ruby invaded Blake's personal space in a hug. The so-called ninja delicately asked, "Please get off me."

Ruby did exactly that, with a nervous chuckle. "Heh. Sorry."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Maybe instead of loitering here, we could just move on? As much as I hate to admit it, it would probably be easier to move as a group."

Murmurs of agreement ensued, despite Weiss's tone. The remaining pairs grabbed their own pieces: Jaune took the white rook piece for Pyrrha, not unnoticed by Ren and Nora; and Ruby took a white knight piece, earning an unseen fist pump by Kaidou.

However, fate seems to be a cruel mistress in stories. Kuboyasu, feeling his mullet aura being tugged at, yelled out, "Get down!"

A flurry of razor feathers hailed upon the temple ruins, everyone doing their best to protect themselves. Pyrrha and surprisingly Jaune, quickly reacted and held up their shields to act as bastions for Nora, Kuboyasu, and Teruhashi, who couldn't dodge as quickly as the others. The former shield user made up for her circular shields much smaller size by expertly deflecting the oncoming projectiles. Weiss, Ren, and Blake reacted with more grace, using their agility to roll behind pillars to protect themselves from damage. Kaidou teleported far away to the side with a poof while Ruby mimicked that motion using her speed semblance to dodge to the same side.

The culprit, or rather culprits, made themselves known as four Nevermores descended upon, the other two Grimm seeming to be preoccupied with something else. Three of which took made a line, which seemed to be ready to charge in a prey on the student huntsmen. The fourth provided suppressing fire with more feathers, although the onslaught had decreased dramatically.

Weiss thought about the options present to her, but Jaune once again surprised her by taking point. Turning to Teruhashi and quickly getting over her impressive wings, more compact when not in combat, "Can you help me and Pyrrha with the one still pelting us with feathers?"

Before Teruhashi could even nod, Jaune turned to Kuboyasu and Nora, "Your weapons look more close-ranged, could you take out the one directly in front of us?"

Deciding they didn't even need to nod, the two rolled in the space between Jaune and Pyrrha to begin their assault immediately, bat and hammer in hand.

"White girl! Help out ninja girl and green guy with the one on the right!" Jaune yelled out.

"It's Weiss!" She yelled, deciding to follow his instructions for now, deciding Grimm distribution wasn't something to argue over.

"And we'll get the last one, right?!" Ruby called out for approval.

Realizing he was acting like a boss, Jaune nervously replied, "Y-yeah, g-good luck!"

Kaidou, not wanting to look not that cool, teleported beside Ruby, who brought out Crescent Rose in sniper form. "Um."

Ruby quickly fired off a shot to get the attention of their assigned Nevermore. With determination, Ruby said, "Listen, I know you're not that good at fighting, but I can probably kill it if I can build enough speed to cut its neck off. I don't know how long that'll take, so can you just distract it until I say 'Take cover'?"

"Hmph. Who do you think you're talking to?" Kaidou replied confidently.

"Are you Kaidou right now or one of other Kaidous?" Ruby wondered innocently.

Kaidou failed to hold back a blush. "I can do that…"

Ruby dashed away in a plume of red petals, and the Nevermore she shot tried to follow until its eye was pierced with an ivory sickle.

"I meant to do that." Kaidou whispered to himself, having launched his Bloody Moon's sickle form to draw its attention. Before he knew it, Kaidou was thrown into the air as the Nevermore drew back its head with the sickle still attached. "AAAAH!"

Kuboyasu didn't particularly have time to worry about Kaidou's screaming, trying not to step on Nora's toes as they both just beat on the Nevermore that had been closest to the group. However, the large Grimm continued to draw backwards until it was the furthest, taking minimal damage from their swings.

"Dammit, quit moving!" Nora yelled in annoyance. Slinging her hammer around and transforming it into a grenade launcher, Nora tried to pelt the Nevermore with explosive capsules. However, just as it had been doing, the Nevermore flapped backwards, crushing the arc of the projectiles into the ground. Kuboyasu, unaware of the weapon change, was blown back by the ensuing boom and slid backwards with a nasty scrape alongside his right elbow.

"Wait, can you kill it if it does?" Kuboyasu grunted, wincing as he tossed his bat from his right hand to his left.

"Well, duh?" Nora affirmed, wondering his point.

"Okay. Got it. I do that, you kill it." Kuboyasu tried to explain as simply as he could. Activating his aura, Kuboyasu charged while Nora was taken aback at his aura's shape.

Or rather, the lack of shape. Instead of being an aura that enveloped him, Kuboyasu's aura was incredibly spiky and jagged, and in constant motion with the spike retracting and shooting out at every other moment. His aura seemed to even leave parts of his body completely exposed to possibility of unfiltered damage.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but they break yours too!" Kuboyasu thought aloud.

Kuboyasu, instead of swinging blindly like the Nevermore became accustomed to, threw his entire baseball bat after twisting the top of it to light the entire thing in fire-based Dust. Purposefully throwing it at an angle towards the left, Kuboyasu mirrored the Nevermore's dodge to the right and brought his fist down into one of the Nevermore's legs.

Controlling his mess of an aura, Kuboyasu channeled a spike to pierce directly through the Nevermore's leg and implant itself into the ground.

However, expending that much aura in a direction caused Kuboyasu's backside to be completely exposed, a prime target.

The Nevermore slashed a talon brutally across the flesh of Kuboyasu's back to leave a deep and bloody gash. Even so, Kuboyasu stood steadfast against the pressure, clenching his teeth from the excruciating pain.

Nora, always one to move on instinct, was already in mid-air when Kuboyasu was struck. And with one valiant swing, the Nevermore's head crashed into the ground, beak barely grazing Kuboyasu's side as it twisted at an impossible angle.

As the Nevermore dissipated into black particles, Kuboyasu forced himself away to check at his back injury.

"Whoa!" Nora exclaimed. "That doesn't look good. You alright?"

"Yeah yeah." Kuboyasu waved her off. Half-jokingly, he stated, "Just another scar."

Nora picked up on the 'half' part, but decided to leave it alone. Feigning ignorance, she turned back and waved, "One down!"

Nora posed triumphantly as it seemed two of the other groups were already cornering their own respective Nevermores.

The unit comprised of Weiss, Ren, and Blake looked to be perfectly battle-competent. The Nevermore's wings were constricted by rope originating from Blake's weapons, said girl attempting to tighten that hold upon the Nevermore's back. Its feet had been encased by ice, completely ridding the Grimm of any opportunity of movement.

With a simultaneous attack, Weiss stabbed her rapier into the base of the Nevermore's neck as Ren unloaded a full SMG clip of one of his weapons into the top of the Grimm's head as he used the blade of his other weapon to provide him a proper handhold.

In the meantime, Pyrrha had very well single-handedly defeated her group's assigned Nevermore. Jaune and Teruhashi had been relegated to the sidelines, the latter only having provided support by providing harsh gusts to push away feathers.

Jaune hadn't done much at all. Despite this, Pyrrha and Teruhashi would both comfort him much, much later that day that his solitary shield shove was helpful.

As for the last group… well…

"AAAAA- AAAAA- AAAAHH- HHHH!" Kaidou consistently screamed while teleporting every half-second, trying his hardest to stay in a perimeter around the Nevermore to buy time for Ruby and not have it fly away. While the Nevermore attempted to track his movements, it had since given up. Now it was trying to use whatever it could to attack everywhere it could with a reckless abandon, whether it be beak, wing, feather, or talon.

This had been going on ever since we last left off on Kaidou.

The rest of the cast looked on in embarrassment at Kaidou's antics. The moment they approached to help was also the moment that negated any need of it.

Ruby, in a near-invisible blur, finally made her appearance as her scythe's blade cleanly sliced off the Grimm's head with the precision of an expert executioner.

Before Kaidou could even stop screaming, he witnessed a newly-screaming Ruby dart past him. Even he could see that Ruby may have built up more speed than necessary as her trajectory continued to be a perfectly horizontal line.

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait!" Ruby continued to scream as she shot past all present company at uncontrollable speed, leaving rose petals in her wake. Her cries were eventually silenced with the firing of a bullet and the subsequent sound of a body crashing into dirt.

When Ruby regained her composure and opened her eyes, everyone besides Kaidou were standing over her with either concern, held-in laughter, or contempt. The absentee was too busy cradling himself against a stone pillar out of residual fear.

Mumbling to himself, Kaidou kept mumbling over and over again, "So sayeth the crow… so sayeth the crow..."

\- Ψ-

"Dammit, dammit, dammit… where the hell…?" The spirit of Toritsuka continued to grumble as he flew slightly under the forest canopy.

For the past… well, he lost count but it was a really long time, Toritsuka had been searching high and low for his body, to no avail. "I've never been out of my body for this long and while this is giving me ideas, I can't feel anything without actual hands."

Finally giving up his manual search, Toritsuka decided to slowly make his way back to the cliff where Ozpin was. Maybe he'll possess that really hot dominatrix and ask Ozpin if his supposed surveillance knew where his physical form was.

As he made his diagonal flight to Ozpin, Toritsuka noticed a number of students climbing the cliff face. One of which had blinked to the top of the cliff after offering a hand to a couple of them.

"Guess that's wimpy kid." Toritsuka commented. Suddenly, he stopped his flight as he realized something.

There were girls wearing skirts.

And they were climbing upwards.

Toritsuka immediately changed his path to underneath the climbing group. He just felt guilty that he didn't have to do the manual work, that's all, and totally believable.

\- Ψ-

By the time Toritsuka finally reached the top of the cliff, he had a newfound and utter gratitude to his phantasmal form. He could put his face and arms and other things wherever he wanted and they wouldn't even know. It was a godsend. _'Thank you, Saiki.'_

Rousing himself away from his libido, Toritsuka weighed the costs and benefits between spirit and body.

Before he could make a decision, Toritsuka overheard Ozpin raising his voice sharply. "Why do you have this line, Miss Xiao Long?!"

Looking over to the headmaster, along with anyone else in earshot, Toritsuka's lack of tact allowed him to fly over to towards Ozpin's ear to eavesdrop on the conversation. There was a chance he might've done the same if Toritsuka wasn't a ghost and it would have been a certainty if the receiver had been Glynda rather than Ozpin.

Catching the latter half of a sentence, Toritsuka heard the annoying woman that punched him several times earlier speak with a desperate tone, "-said to say we need ground support. He's busy… and we need medical support too!"

' _Heh.'_ Toritsuka smiled as he realized the annoying girl was having a hard time. _'She gets what she deserves, and karma has been served!'_

"Can you not fall back? Are you surrounded?" Ozpin replied.

"No, it's not that!" Yang snapped over the communications line. Sounds of bullets flying and screaming from both Yang and an unidentified male party interrupted the conversation briefly before Yang could speak again, "The Grimm are the ones falling back! And we're barely keeping up with them!"

Ozpin took on a look of shock, alongside Glynda who seemed to be on the same communications channel, "Why are you chasing?!"

The sound of bullets being reloaded joined the sound of the previous male voice barking out orders too inaudible to hear over the call. "Gragh! They have that purple-haired guy! The Grimm are taking his body for some reason! Shit! Where is he?!"

Shock once again adorned the headmaster's face as Toritsuka was taken aback by the statement. Without needing to say anything, Ozpin looked to Glynda who nodded in response before yelling out instructions of her own on a different channel.

While imperceptibly grinding his teeth, Ozpin asked, "Can you tell if he's alive?"

Toritsuka hadn't stuck around to even hear the question as he darted away in a random direction, hoping to pick up on a sign of where his body was.

By the time he found it, Toritsuka Reita was in the morgue. And pronounced dead.

\- Ψ-

 **Alright, first thing to address. Their auras. While the Toritsuka and Kaidou have their semblances based off of the puns in their names, their auras are actually another feature in the source content.**

 **While I hope that some of you actually know who Aiura is, or are reading this in the future where she made an appearance in the second season of the anime, it's because of her powers that the auras in this story are special the way they are. I'm going to avoid any other spoilers because that'll come in time but for story reference:**

 **Kaidou: Incredibly tiny aura.**

 **Kuboyasu: Spiky and uneven aura.**

 **Teruhashi: Literal angel wings with a few black feathers as an aura.**

 **Toritsuka: ...An inappropriate joke in itself.**

 **And the thing I eluded to in the last chapter about Kaidou and Kuboyasu… I'd probably say they're the 'Generic Self-Insert Character.' Or in this case, characters.**

 **The GSIC, for short, is basically to implement your own personality or a very delved out personality in your head without betraying the actual character personality. If that doesn't make much sense, basically it's the reason Naruto and Jaune are popular fanfiction main characters. Because you can write them how you would like, and their actual personalities are such an open book that it's still believable in context. Those two barely have any characteristics that make them unrelateable which is why you can have super-criminal born to Salem or Roman or etc. Jaune Arc or a Naruto that beats enemies through the power of dance.**

 **If those are actual fanfictions, I apologize. I would research but I'm lazy. But anyways, if you were to write a Saiki Kusuo self-insert, I would suggest otherwise and just write from Kaidou or Kuboyasu's perspective unless you're going for that self-insert appeal. It'll make more sense in the universe and there's less freedom so the story can actually be focused rather than trying to make an OC's personality show in random situations.**

 **Kuboyasu is definitely the GSIC of Saiki Kusuo. Even if he can be kind of stupid at times, as long as you make it so that Kuboyasu can't tolerate bad guys or make an AU where its explained otherwise, you could probably write him the same way Naruto or Jaune would be.**

 **Kaidou, however, can be a bit less of a GSIC than Kuboyasu. After all, he's meant to be a wimp and a chuunibyou. However, the brave streak he sometimes has and some of the things he does makes him seem like a GSIC. However, he is a much more prominent character which makes him a contender for the Saiki Kusuo GSIC.**

 **However, I guess this whole thing is kind of irrelevant since most people probably won't use a GSIC for Saiki Kusuo fanfiction. The reason being that Saiki Kusuo doesn't take place in a super interesting alternate world. GSIC is normally used for stories that you can write about a cool environment like Remnant or otherwise. Saiki Kusuo takes place in just plain ol' Earth.**

 **Also, this entire segment isn't meant to make me sound pretentious or anything and I'm definitely NOWHERE near a professional writer, so take my opinions how you will. But if you were to write a fanfiction, maybe see if there's a GSIC somewhere in the story that you could use and abuse. After all, writing a story with an alternate Jaune Arc rather than an OC is probably going to be read more so you could actually get more opinions and stuff.**

 **That being said, I'm not going to try and deny that Kaidou and Kuboyasu are being written with that GSIC mindset. Their characters are pretty flexible that I could basically write whatever and it would still believable in some way. If that turns you off or if you end up thinking about it during any scene I write them in, sorry 'bout that. Just thought I'd share since that's what these things are for.**

 **Now for the review responses:**

 **Raygha, I feel like I should just be copy-pasting a genuine 'Thank you' at this point. Not to say I don't appreciate your support, it's always welcome.**

 **Zentari, I know you reviewed Chapter 3 but if you're reading this, Saiki Kusuo being smart but picking up the idiot ball to cause dumb situations is basically what the source content is. But since it's a crossover, I'll try my best that you can't see an idiot ball as the plot progression tool.**

 **doaNUMBERSSSSSS, one of your biggest fears is also mine. Which is probably why if anything else happens it'll be High School Esper or Green Lantern so I don't burn out of writing this story so I can write about different things so writing this shouldn't get stale in theory. So for now, I'm working on both of those to see if I could keep it up in private before making it public. Maybe I'll post the Green Lantern one soon but that's an 'if'.**

 **But as for your hopes of Toritsuka's death, sorry I used it the way I did. But I feel like if I say anything else, I could accidently spoil something else I have planned so an apology is all you and probably a decent number of readers get for your tensions being released in such a pathetic way. These chapters weren't really supposed to happen anyway.**

 **Powdered Fred, I can't keep being awesome if I wasn't awesome in the first place. That aside, thanks for being another reason why it feels valid to actually write these chapters.**

 **And Guest… um, when I said I 'wrote too much,' I meant I wrote too much in the Author's Note. I know that chapters aren't that much. That note was a lot longer than I had planned and sorry that I didn't make the context of 'too much' clear enough.**

 **As for your preview… Catching Up.**


	10. Chapter 10: PSIettling In

**Wait... when was the last chapter? June 20th... THE HELL?! R-really?! ...Uhh... I-I'll let you read the chapter first... mediocre explanations later...  
**

* * *

"Saiki!"

"Saiki!"

"Saiki!"

' _Alright. The audience gets it. We're back on track.'_ Saiki thought to no one in particular. Sighing, Saiki quickly rattled off in thought to Neo. 「This is going to take a while, so just go ahead of me.」

It seems his instruction was unwarranted as the little psycho was already bouncing away long before Saiki said anything. _'…What else did I expect…?'_

Clearing his throat to prepare to physically speak to people who probably never saw him open his mouth, Saiki turned to address the headaches that were compounding on the one he was already dealing with in his head. With complete indifference, Saiki asked, "What?"

Kaidou, Kuboyasu, and especially Teruhashi all flinched at Saiki's tone. The first to say something, Kaidou sputtered whilst flailing his arms around, "Well, um- you know- uhh- how-?"

The first to actually recover, Teruhashi tilted her cheek into her hand to emphasize the cuteness of her speech. "It's great to see you again, Saiki!"

Saiki looked unaffected.

' _Ugh! It really is him! How can he not be in awe of me still?! Shouldn't you be incredibly happy to see me despite being in a different world, no… especially happy in that case?!'_ Teruhashi's thoughts betrayed her outward appearance, a truth only known to the incredibly annoyed psychic in front of her. "It was super~ surprising to see you here! I mean, this is a different world and all!"

Saiki found it not very effective. Saiki attempted to run away. …Escape failed!

Saiki sighed as his path forward was near instantly blocked by Kaidou and Kuboyasu. They even had their arms outstretched horizontally to reinforce the fact they didn't know how idiotic they were being in public. "We're going to be late to our rooms."

Kaidou thumped his fists in front of him in a faux irritation. "That doesn't matter! How'd you come to this world?! When did you get here?! Why did you even know to come to Beacon?! Don't you think this whole thing is cool?!"

Saiki didn't feel like answering but then again, Kaidou and company would undoubtedly keep annoying him with even further questions if he didn't. "No clue. Yesterday morning. Coincidence. No."

Not knowing that every single one of those answers besides the last one was a lie, Kaidou stomped at the ground before Kuboyasu asked in a serious voice, "Do you know what kind of world this is? …and about what happened to Toritsuka?"

Saiki would roll his eyes but that would take physical effort. This time there was no need for Saiki to lie, "A terrible one. And yes."

"Wait… you said you came yesterday, right?" Kaidou asked, whilst chewing his thumbnail in thought.

Saiki nodded once.

"A-are our parents worried or anything? We've been gone for a few days… and I really don't like leaving them to worry..." Kaidou voiced his concern in a half-mumble, but even with the muted volume, it was more than enough to leave a heavy feeling to the air.

' _Huh. I actually didn't think of that.'_ Saiki thought, understanding the oversight. _'Well, lies breed other lies.'_

"I don't really know. I was sick from school. I didn't know whether or not anyone had gone missing…" Saiki explained.

"Damn, that's a shitty coincidence…" Kuboyasu clicked his tongue in annoyance. Looking towards Saiki, Kuboyasu gave a thumbs up, "But don't worry Saiki, we're all going to get through this together."

' _We are, but you're not going to help in any way whatsoever. As always.'_ Saiki sighed inwardly.

' _Wait… that does seem like an odd coincidence…'_ Teruhashi analyzed, confusing Saiki as to the reason. _'If I were to go missing, that annoying fan club would probably go look for Saiki in case he did anything because of all those rumors between him and me, not that any of those rumors are true, that is! Not to mention Chiyo knows about my crush and would check with Saiki, too.'_

' _Well I would be worried about that, if that were the case.'_ Saiki waved off. _'Teruhashi, you might think that's correct, but that's self-centered. They would probably assume you were sick first, not eloping. Even if our school's student body has a tendency to go into panic whenever you're absent, they probably wouldn't make that connection so quickly.'_

' _But there is a point in Teruhashi's logic. But not for our class, but because of her annoying brother. Without a doubt, he would know Teruhashi wasn't sick at home and his obsession would cause him to go into a frenzy. It probably wouldn't take more than an hour for him to connect her disappearance to me out of his misplaced jealousy. And he'll find that I was gone too. Putting aside what else he would do, when we get back to our world, that's a discrepancy that I'm going to need to clear up.'_

' _But that's a problem for another day.'_ Saiki dismissed. "Are we done here? If you haven't noticed, we've caused a scene and I'm sure your teammates are waiting for you."

Much to Saiki's growing disdain, it took a full minute for the three stooges to realize the audience that had formed around them out of curiosity of the 'overly dramatic foreign language speaking group with the insanely pretty girl and one of the late arrivals.'

Cheeks went as pink as Saiki's hair.

\- Ψ-

"Kaidou, Kuboyasu, where have you been?! We need more hands, stat!" Ruby screamed at the two dumbstruck Japanese boys standing in the doorway.

"Huh?" Kaidou uttered, a perfectly normal response when there were currently two girls hanging on the ceiling, one hood-wearer entangled in rope and one blonde dangling from the top of the window pane to try and place an entire bed on top of a stack of assorted cheeses. Finally, Blake was desperately trying to hang onto her Gambol Shroud's handles as her weapon's grapples were being used to hoist up two beds in the air.

There had been a fifth bed, but it has since moved onto the afterlife. All that remained were spare wooden planks and the mattress dangerously hanging outside the window.

"Eh…" Kaidou muttered, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"Wait just a second!" Kuboyasu exclaimed, enough to startle Kaidou off his feet. However, instead of helping Kaidou out of his confusion, or back onto his feet, he continued, "You can't have the feta in the center of the pillar, that'll break the stability. It should be second to the edge alongside the Swiss."

"Wait, what's feta?" Yang asked.

Kuboyasu's eyes widened. "You're using _cheese that you don't know the name of_?! Get away from the bed. I'm handling it."

As Kuboyasu rolled up his sleeves, Yang noticed there wasn't any space on the floor to actually land. "Uh."

"Shut your mouth, cheese is meant to be respected!" Kuboyasu exclaimed as he proceeded to _kick_ the stack of cheese.

Kaidou, still unaware of what was happening, felt that the current chain of events weren't going to end well. "Does anyone else think this is a bad idea?!"

"There is no bad ideas!" Ruby yelled, after wriggling her mouth free from the rope that bound it. "Only good ideas that go terribly wrong!"

"What does that even have to do with anything?!" Kaidou said in exasperation.

"We're only unpacking Kaidou." Blake explained with a solemn tone. She would seem cool if her hands weren't currently tomato red and her arms shaking uncontrollably in an attempt to hold up their teams' beds.

' _Unpacking?!'_ Kaidou reeled in shock. _'Are they unleashing the hounds of hell upon this mortal realm?!'_

Yang, standing stock still, not wanting to bother Kuboyasu delicately kicking cheese and books across the room and punching nails in the space in the wall near her head, loudly wondered, "Don't you need to pack anything Kaidou?"

"I live in darkness. I need no mortal instruments for this realm."

"What about your student uniform? Classes start tomorrow." Ruby asked.

"…I'll put it away when I can see a cabinet. They hold darkness within their shelves."

"Your clothes need darkness, too?" Ruby would've tilted her head but she was in no position too. She did at least put on a smile when she said, "Don't worry, me and Yang sleep with the lights off."

"Huh? Wait, that's-" Kaidou tried to mutter until…

"Kaidou, catch!" Kuboyasu screamed his instruction.

Kaidou ducked in pure fear.

"What are you doing?!" Kuboyasu scolded. "Catch it!"

"It was on fire!" Kaidou yelled back.

"Oranges do not catch fire!"

"It's a _plant!_ Of course it catches on fire!"

Kuboyasu stopped everything he was doing and stared incredulously at Kaidou. "Wait, are you serious?"

"Why are you so surprised about this?!" Kaidou questioned, throwing his arms up into the air.

"Actually, that explains why those guys with the apples ended up with second degree burns." Kuboyasu muttered with his hand up to his chin.

Kaidou had no idea what his delinquent friend was talking about and was too scared to ask.

"Less talking, more decorating!" Ruby said, managing to free an arm to pump it into the air.

"You should probably put out the fire though." Blake said in a deadpan voice.

Kaidou looked to where the orange landed in a panic. Currently, it was starting to scorch the ground, and it would've slowly put itself out… at least if it didn't reach the papers tossed haphazardly around it.

Kaidou dived.

For the next hour during their 'renovations', Kaidou attempted to try and help in his own way only to get pushed aside by every single one of his teammates who had a better grasp of what was happening. Nor did anyone realize or care as Kaidou slowly disappeared underneath bedsheets, pillows, and assorted posters.

-Ψ-

At the back end of the hallway, Saiki was faring somewhat better. Actually, he wasn't even the one complaining at the moment.

"H-Huh?! Wait! Wait! Why are there four beds here?! Where's the wall?! S-Saiki is not staying here, right?!" Teruhashi asked, waving her arms around in a mad scramble.

"Huh?" Weiss cast a sideways glare towards the silent member standing in the doorway. "Is he the kind of person who would try something?"

' _With those antennae, he must be a bug faunus. Double the reason not to trust him.'_ Weiss thought.

' _Again with the bug thing? Are people just not allowed to wear hair accessories here?'_ Saiki complained. _'What about that cat girl with the ribbon, then?!'_

Teruhashi did her best defense by unleashing a series of 'Umm…'s and "Ehto…'s.

Seeing Teruhashi cement her inability to become his lawyer, Saiki stated, "There's no reason to try anything."

While Weiss caught onto the subtext of his statement, she sighed, "Yes, I suppose Beacon wouldn't be quite so loose to enroll those who would fall to criminal intentions."

' _Eh. I don't know. Toritsuka got in, even if he made his exit.'_ Saiki thought to himself.

Reflecting on her own statement, Weiss thought, _'Even if I disagree with how they select their leaders… wait, then by what merit did they decide for me to become a leader?'_

' _Probably none.'_ Saiki kept his reply to himself. _'They probably just didn't want an otherworldly bystander or a mute girl to be at the helm with their terrible team selection process.'_

Meanwhile, said mute was happily bouncing on a bed without a care in the world. _'Yeah! I can't fall to criminal intentions if I had them in the first place.'_

It's not like Saiki ever had faith in the world, whether his own or this one, so that snark elicited no response. Rather, it should be that her existence should elicit no response, so Saiki was merely training.

' _Actually I should be more concerned with sharing a room with Teruhashi. She took one of my control devices off before, I need to make sure that doesn't happen again.'_

"If you're concerned, could you leave the room for a moment?" Saiki offered.

"N-No, it's not like t-that… it's just…" Teruhashi shied away while shuffling her arms in front of her. Love really does make people break character.

Weiss rolled her eyes, wrongly believing that the conversation may last a while due to her unfamiliarity with Saiki's personality, decided that the quickest solution was to drag Teruhashi outside the room through muted protests.

"You too, Neopolitan." Weiss instructed. However, Neo was as much for listening as she was for talking and decided to keep bouncing in an exaggerated mock glee.

"It's fine. She can stay, it doesn't matter." Saiki promptly said, whilst slowly closing the door.

"Don't touch anything of mine. Dust is delicate." Weiss explained before the door was shut.

Walking towards the large central window, Saiki telepathically unhinged one half of the curtain from its resting place and floated it to rest on the bed against the wall farthest from the attached bathroom.

[Whatcha doin~?] Neo wondered, finally tired of bouncing and lazily sitting with her legs forward on her bed.

Saiki ignored her presence and continued moving about. Saiki opened the closet doors to reveal a set of cleaning utensils and a few clothing hangers already on the rack. Assuming the mop would be relatively useless compared to the broom, especially on carpeted floors, Saiki forcefully installed the mop into the ceiling and reinforced its placement using metal wires.

Taking four of the school-given hangers in the closet, Saiki quickly undid their hook in order to wrap it around the hanging staff of the mop between the bed he claimed and the others. Taking some lien from his pocket, he apported small, cheap bells and attached them to each of the hangers.

Lifting the curtain carefully, Saiki hooked the curtain through its metal-lined holes onto the hangers. The red cloth wasn't quite touching the floor but it did quite a good job of covering line of sight between the separated sides of the room.

Finally, Saiki went back towards the half covered window and draped the curtain to primarily cover the upper half, and telekinetically pulled a cabinet directly under the window. While the top was barely over the windowsill, it would do its job nicely.

[That just seemed annoying and unnecessary.] Neo commented on Saiki's work.

[Like you.]「Like you?」

「This isn't for your protection, it's for mine. And by extension, everyone else.」 Saiki transmitted, deciding to explain for no particular reason, pretending the last moment didn't happen.

[Pfft. Like anyone'll try something with a guy like you.]

「You would be in much more trouble than me if some idiot decided to remove these pins when I'm asleep.」 Saiki sneered.

Taking the hint, Neo raised an eyebrow. [What, your powers aren't turned off when you're asleep?]

Taking Saiki's silence as confirmation, Neo narrowed her eyes. [You can control your urine, right?]

Neo suddenly started getting strangled by her bed covers.

\- Ψ—

Outside the room, Weiss released her grip on Teruhashi's arm and faced the girl trying to regain her beautiful composure once again. Arms crossed, Weiss demanded, "Alright, what's going on? I barely know you but even I can tell you're not comfortable around our teammates. As this team's leader, I have the right to know lest it be the downfall of us."

 _'Wait, why was she allowed to stay? ...wait she asked something..'_ Teruhashi succumbed to her nerves once again and began tapping her index fingers together. "Ehto... sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked..." Weiss enunciated with clear annoyance. "Do you have a problem with our teammates?"

Intensely focusing on the motion of her fingers and refusing to look Weiss in the eyes, Teruhashi mumbled with a huge blush on her face, "I-It's nothing."

Weiss sighed. "Do you like him?"

"Is it that obvious?!" Teruhashi recoiled back, before covering her mouth and looking down the hallway and hoping she didn't bother anyone with her volume.

Weiss pinched at the space between her eyebrows. _'Great. I already have to deal with team problems. Of course the first obstacle is a stupid crush. And on a faunus nonetheless. Although…'_

Weiss quickly looked over Teruhashi. _'It is curious why someone of her caliber would be interested in him. Perhaps there's something more to him than initial appearances. But first, I need to figure out a plan of action.'_

"And?" Weiss asked, rolling her head in place.

Teruhashi blinked twice in confusion. "And?"

Weiss sighed again. She felt that she was going to get plenty of practice for it. "What do you intend to do? Have you already confessed? ...Judging by that look on your face, I suppose not."

"Honestly," Weiss shrugged, "I have little experience in these kinds of matters. I will warn you though."

Weiss gave a hard glare towards Teruhashi. "If you refuse to resolve this issue, and it affects our team synergy in any way, I will tell everything to him. And then I will lock you both into a room until you both figure yourselves out. Understood?"

Teruhashi had gone pale at the threat. However, while she knows she can be a fool when it came to Saiki, Teruhashi disliked being threatened. With an innocent smile, Teruhashi answered with her persona of perfection, "Very well, I'll be sure to follow your every instruction, leader." _'Meaning anything that goes wrong is on you.'_

Weiss smirked. "I'll be sure to take responsibility of whatever happens. As for whether I support you or not-"

"Done." Saiki swung the door open, interrupting any proceedings, and causing Teruhashi to go cold in hear in case he had heard anything. Waving the two girls in, Saiki closed the door once the whole team was inside.

Motioning to the curtain he had put up as a visual barrier, Saiki gave it a small tug. The attached bells rung soundly but not at a volume loud enough to be annoying. "I suspect it would be quite hard to try anything without alerting every party in the room now."

Pointing to the cabinet in front of the windowsill, the bottom half of the window exposed. "And if you feel uncomfortable with exposing part of our room to the outside, you could place decoration on top of the cabinet to block sight lines."

"Well, you certainly did that quickly…" Weiss complimented. However, only half of her attention was focused on Saiki. "Erm… but how exactly did this happen?"

Both Weiss and Teruhashi were far more curious about the bed-sheet entangled Neo, unable to move in the little alcove between two of the beds. The amount of bedding wrapped around her only left half of Neo's face, a few fingers, and her left leg visible.

Without even flinching, Saiki sat down on his bed before bothering to say, "She did it herself."

"S-Should we help?" Teruhashi asked.

"…Classes start early." Saiki stated before lying down, disappearing from line of sight behind the red curtain.

With the visible half of Neo's face showing a look of indifference, the two girls left the small assassin to her makeshift prison to get ready for bed themselves.

…During the night, both Weiss and Teruhashi felt guilty enough to untangle the 'poor' girl.

-Ψ-

The next morning.

Teruhashi began waking up as she would any other day. At least until her sense of awareness came back, and she shot up clutching at her nightie.

Darting her head towards the curtain, Teruhashi saw the cloth had gone undisturbed since last night, where she had spent a better majority of her precious sleep time staring at it with the thought of sharing a room with Saiki.

Teruhashi could tell Weiss was beginning to stir awake as well, and that Neo girl had already left their quarters, leaving an unkempt bed behind. Standing as quietly as she could, Teruhashi stated tiptoeing towards a part of the room where she could have an angle on Saiki without touching the curtain. Craning her head forward, Teruhashi tried to glimpse Saiki asleep.

"What are you doing?"

Teruhashi's careless balance caused the question to send her tumbling to the ground. On her way to the floor, Teruhashi saw that Saiki had already left himself.

Blushing, Teruhashi picked herself up and dusted off her clothes. "Just trying to get ready."

Weiss narrowed her ice blue eyes at that lame excuse. Taking a quick glance at the clock that read 8:27, Weiss sent her gaze back at Teruhashi and murmured, "Uh-huh. Classes start at nine. Best start getting ready."

Teruhashi gave a curt nod before the two girls quickly changed into uniform. Continuing, Weiss clarified, "Our first class is Grimm Studies with Professor Port. I haven't heard much about him but I'm sure he's a competent teacher to be employed at Beacon… I just hope our other teammates understand that."

"Eh… I wouldn't worry about Saiki. If there's one thing I can say about him, it would be his ability to blend in, even if I don't understand why he would want to…" Teruhashi mused with confliction in her voice. "I doubt he would do anything to make himself stick out like being late for the first day of classes."

' _Well, I've seen plenty of faunus try to make themselves small… and they're the only tolerable kind.'_ Weiss listened carefully as Teruhashi went on. She figured now would be as good as any other time to get to know a little more about one of her teammates. There were still twenty minutes before class started. "So what kind of person is Saiki?"

Teruhashi put a finger to her chin, "…Average."

Weiss raised an eyebrow at Teruhashi's description. Seeing Weiss's face, Teruhashi giggled, "Sorry, that's not much help, is it? Well… in school, I've never seen him do anything… noticeable. Sure, there had been a few incidents such as when Saiki apparently made a stone sculpture of his… weird friend. He's always finished towards the middle of the… hmm, wait…"

Teruhashi thought back. Mumbling to herself barely loud enough for Weiss to make out, "Has he ever finished anywhere else other than exactly middle of the pack…"

Weiss felt a sense of unease from that statement. Sure, it could be an amazing coincidence but from the presence Saiki gave, it felt like he did not have to work hard to get into Beacon and the gazes of people meant nothing to him. The latter feeling was one Weiss couldn't misinterpret, she grew up with people holding that sense of indifference.

Teruhashi tried to dismiss any concerns by waving around her hands submissively. "But Saiki is not a bad person. He might not always try his best, and maybe he seems annoyed with his friends more than not, but if nothing else… he's stuck around… he also really enjoys sweets."

Weiss blinked at that abrupt last description. _'Well, I guess even for a faunus, he can't be too bad if she's willing to say all that.'_

"Hm. Thank you for that amount of insight. Shall we leave for class, then?" Weiss proposed. Teruhashi, with just a quick nod, started to emanate that radiant presence of hers. Opening the door, Weiss and Teruhashi stood stock still.

Sitting further down the hallway was Kaidou, crying incessantly wearing pajamas that were mismatched and tattered. With tear-stained eyes, Kaidou looked up and locked eyes with the two girls.

Without another word, Kaidou was ignored for the fifth and sixth time that day.

-Ψ-

Weiss hoped that she wouldn't keep being surprised past the opening week. Saiki and Neo, despite appearance, had apparently already made their way to Port's lecture hall and set themselves up accordingly, dressed in their proper uniforms, and sat themselves at the second row from the front.

Saiki was waiting for class to begin with his back straight in a sitting stance that simply seemed unshakable. His demeanor had gathered more than a few murmurs from other classmates, all of whom had not arrived earlier than the pink-haired teenager. In front of him, basic writing supplies were all organized with an uncanny sense of precision. However, despite the situation presenting him as a hard-working and diligent student, the unused pencils and the literal stack of paper in front of him seemed to contradict the innate feeling. Another contradiction would probably be his lackadaisical approach to the tri-colored themed girl in the corner seat to the right of him.

Neo was 'sitting,' in a way. However, it seemed the back of the chair and the seat itself had inversed roles, as Neo was laying down on the bottom of the chain, with her knees folded around the top of the chair. Her legs were kicking freely about, daring anyone to try and come closer in exchange for a boot to the face.

Another fact, one that nobody knew, was that Saiki and Neo had been talking for an hour, first about logistical stuff only for it to slowly devolve into a 'how much annoyance can Saiki take without breaking' type of conversation and further into a dialogue about 'how much violence can the other threaten the other with and how many people would know about it.'

Saiki had quoted Kuboyasu a few times, which slightly irked him, but amusingly enough, the delinquent came up with very creative methods that could argue on par with Neo.

Without missing a beat, Teruhashi sat herself next to Saiki. She remained composed for a few seconds before realizing her actions might have been far too brazen for her. To her credit, when Teruhashi walked into a room, people noticed. Saiki could already feel eyes boring into the back of his skull.

Weiss was hoping to take a seat at the front of the room, but the mood dictated her to fill the position beside her own team. It wouldn't be good for the leader to be off on her own, after all.

A few minutes later.

"Welcome class!" A stout man with lowered eyelids and an intricately crafted mustache wearing a militaristic red uniform greeted the class. Taking a quick head count, he pointed out, "It seems we have a few students late but no matter-"

" **Safe!"** came a booming voice as the door to the lecture hall slid open hard enough to recoil back fair amount. Kuboyasu led Team RASBY to the front of the class and the few remaining seats. Yang, Blake, and Ruby came right behind him, all of them panting heavily from exhaustion.

As for Kaidou, all eyes sans Saiki's were on him. It wasn't very often you see a student frothing at the mouth being dragged into a room over the shoulder of his fellow male teammate. Actually, it wasn't a sight you would see at all, thinking about it. The five of them took their seats, or in Kaidou's case, thrown into it.

Weiss felt her hand desperately wanting to slap herself in the face.

"Well, you five are a few minutes late-"

"Huh?!" The four conscious members shouted. Kuboyasu rolled his black Beacon Academy uniform's sleeve to reveal his watch, terribly cracked but still ticking.

"Tch." Kuboyasu clicked as groans rang out from his female teammates.

"I'll do better next time." Ruby moaned, no one sure of exactly who she was talking to.

And so, the class passed with little to note, figuratively and literally. Professor Port had kept rambling off-topic unnecessarily, although his professionalism did seldom shine through when he actually talked about things of relevance.

At least, Saiki had made sure the class passed with little to note. Saiki made it a personal mission to make himself, and by extension, his team as little opportunity to stick out even more so than they already did with the roster of two transfer students and two incredible beauties.

Of course, there was the risk that it would cause a deviation from the original timeline to set up another headache. However, when it came to the first day, it was pertinent that Saiki made sure he wasn't in the spotlight, lest any future headaches might garner unnecessary attention.

Their classes for today: Grimm Studies with Port; Field Survival Basics with Merit; Minimizing Risks and Resources with Peach; and Battle Sparring with Goodwitch, Saiki had gone through their schedules and tweaked any nuisances that might've arisen.

For example, Port wanted a student to spar with a Grimm in the classroom like an insane man. It was fairly integral to the lesson plan so Saiki couldn't quite write it off, so he had come out to the main floor of the lecture hall very early and purposely littered it with an incessant amount of breakable objects. To Saiki's gratitude, Port had taken the hint and decided to postpone the activity until the next lesson.

Another thing to be happy about, apparently the dumb event of fighting a boar in the classroom didn't matter to the timeline enough for a headache.

However… when did things ever go his way? That was the thought Saiki had as the day progressed. It didn't help that Neo help pound that fact in any time the opportunity presented itself.

\- Ψ-

Battle Sparring with Goodwitch. The last class for the day, and the last hurdle to preserve Saiki's mediocrity. Saiki had focused especially in making sure the lesson plan for the day was flawless. It would involve students from multiple teams, including Teams JNPR and RASBY, one of the only classes the three shared, but excluded his classmates in case of any undue attention.

There was a random selection match at the end, but Saiki instead replaced that item with a match between random leaders. That made it impossible for Saiki to have been chosen for battle in a school meant to teach combat. It would be hard to stay in the background especially if you made a splash on the first day.

Overall, it was a perfect lesson plan.

' _Guess I couldn't find the lesson plan. However, it is the first day and I do understand the essentials…'_ Goodwitch thought. Suddenly, her hand was at the weapon on her waist as she felt intense murderous intent thrown in her direction. It had quickly subsided but it had successively spooked her.

Saiki calmed himself and rested his forehead in his arm. _'Okay. Keep her thoughts away from me. She may be on edge, but that's a risk I'll have to take.'_

' _I suppose the first order of business is to have a showmatch. I'll have to give my opinions, and show the class the basic order of these lessons. I'll demonstrate proper behavior before moving onto however many more timed matches after the free reign on time for the showmatch. As for the participants…'_

Glynda's eyes scanned the room quickly as she gave her basic introductions to the course. "In this course, we will primarily be holding tournament-style matches that are meant to emulate real combat and sharpen your skills by using your fellow classmates as catalysts. On your scrolls, you have a program attached to your aura. You will be allowed to keep track of your own aura level using it as well as the large screen above my head. Please use it to properly determine your strategies based off of your aura levels. As for our first exhibition…"

' _I suppose…_ _ **I should choose from the leaders.**_ _Actually, no,_ _ **yes.**_ _It would be better to have combat in pairs to fully show off the system._ _ **Said the liar.**_ _But even so, I believe those two should make themselves known._ _ **Or maybe we can wait?**_ _'_

"Saiki Kusuo and Neopolitan Sunday." Goodwitch announced.

"AHH!"

Eyes darted away from the two that were called to a part of the crowd further in the back where several voices screamed out.

"What are you doing?!" Goodwitch yelled out.

"Nothing! The bench flipped on its own!" A particularly vocal student yelled back.

[Hey.] Neo waited for the annoyed Saiki to turn before continuing. [Life hates you too. And so do I.]

「Don't make this more difficult.」 Saiki demanded.

[Of course I will! Who do you think I am?] Neo retorted.

「It's more like what.」

Glynda coughed into her fist. "Continuing on, Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos will also be participating. You four, please proceed to the lockers and prepare for combat."

As Neo bounced away, Saiki activated the favorability meter, a facet of his telepathy that can gauge the level of affection others have for others, and in this particular case, towards Saiki.

' _Hm. 31 as an average. That's a lot lower than I expected. Resentment for my exception and my unfortunate team, I suppose.'_ Saiki thought.

However, rather than heading to the lockers himself, Saiki simply took off his jacket and folded it onto the bench he was sitting on. It drew a few looks of curiosity, but soon all eyes were on him as he loosened his tie and dropped it onto his jacket before simply walking onto the stadium.

' _What the hell is he thinking?' 'Who is this cocky bastard, thinking he can take on THE Pyrrha without a proper weapon?' 'The way he took off his tie was kind of cool.' 'Is he poor or something?'_

Saiki ignored the remarks as he waited on stage. He also ignored the fact that for some reason taking off his tie caused the favorability values to increase for females and decrease for men for a net neutral.

However, it was quite interesting that apparently one of his opponents, whichever one is Pyrrha, likely the male from the name's origin, is somewhat well-known. Saiki took a mental note of that, _'Maybe_ _he's stronger than first appearance. And the girl named after Joan of Arc looked strong as well.'_

' _I can't make the fight seem overwhelmingly one-sided against myself, unfortunately.'_ Saiki caught a glimpse of Goodwitch at the corner of his eye. _'I'm going to be evaluated for this, and annoyingly, Neo and I have to maintain a modicum of competency just to continue our attendance.'_

Saiki internally cursed. _'Since I'm a part of the first fight, I don't have a frame of data to work with, and I can't tell just how skilled of a fighter someone needs to be just to be admitted to this accursed school. Dammit, maybe I should've let Port-sensei go along with his stupid indoor fight.'_

[So are we winning, humiliating, or forfeiting?]

Saiki was roused from his thought as Neo skipped her way to his side. Judging by the fact that she was wearing the same casual clothes Saiki had first met her in, it probably hadn't taken long to change. 「…Losing, but we have to make it look close.」

[Winning it is, then.] Neo replied. Saiki would have felt a blood vessel pop, but at this point, he wasn't surprised anymore. [Oh, and since you disagree, I'm pulling a favor card.]

「For this…?」 Saiki sighed in resignation. Winning would garner more attention than not, but with how Neo was, Saiki unfortunately thought that it wasn't the most demanding favor she could have asked for. 「Fine. But why for a fight? 」

Neo created an image herself shrugging in her head so she wouldn't have to in reality. [I don't like losing… and with my height, I could be a target for bullying if I look too weak… and killing people would be bad.]

Saiki found it tiresome that he followed that train of thought. It was nice to know that Neo did actually have some care towards hiding their true identities though.

It was then that their two opponents walked onto the stage. Saiki mused to himself to look up whether or not knights and Spartans existed in this world, considering his opponents' themes of armor. That might be a clue as to whether Remnant is a different Earth or a different planet.

"Are our combatants prepared, then?" Goodwitch loudly asked for the entire room to hear. A few murmurs re-erupted concerning Saiki's lack of gear but quickly died down.

Neo gave a slight nod as an answer. [So are we going boy vs. boy and girl vs. girl?]

Saiki raised an arm in a manner that would be acceptable as a confirmation. 「Aren't we supposed to fight together?」

As Jaune and Pyrrha both voiced their readiness, Neo informed, [Eh. Most people find that too hard to do, especially if you don't know your partner, like we're supposed to. It ends up being separated duels with remote interference in the end.]

Goodwitch explained, "The fight will end when both members of a team fall below an acceptable level of aura. For this battle, there will be no preparation and both parties will go in blind to their opponents' abilities. Once again, please refer to your scrolls at opportune times to check on your aura levels to decide proper strategies.'

Saiki was relieved to have someone astute in the art of fighting, despite who it was. Fighting was a fount of knowledge he had no experience in. 「Then take 'Pyrrha.' People think that person's strong. The name sounds more masculine than Jaune, considering their roots.」

Saiki locked eyes with the red-haired girl across from him. Saiki heard her analyze, _'Guess he's my opponent first. I'll have to try quicker attacks. He doesn't have a weapon so he must be a semblance-focused fighter with at least some long range moves.'_

Saiki blinked. Was that a normal level of analysis for college-age fighters?

[Got it. Heh.] Neo chuckled as she looked at Jaune's eyes. However, the blonde knight was unfocusedly paying attention to the crowd and Glynda rather than his opponents.

' _Heh?'_ Saiki felt he made a mistake somewhere.

"Begin!" Goodwitch announced.

Neo quickly sidestepped as the red-haired girl charged a startled Saiki. Neo proceeded to abandon him and lunged at the knight, who clumsily tried to put up his shield.

Before Neo had begun that lunge, Saiki already had to decide on his course of fighting. The girl had covered far too much distance far too quickly for the amount of armor she should've been wearing. The speed surpassed even Neo when she first dashed at him back at the docks.

' _What?!'_ Saiki saw that he wouldn't be fast enough to step away from the side swipe that was coming unless he teleported or painfully used telekinesis to push himself back.

Without the time to decide on the least conspicuous option, the red-haired huntress swung at an unrivaled pace.

Only to swipe at air. The crowd erupted in surprise at the event that only took a second.

Saiki had bent his back backwards far enough to make limbo champion worry about their title. Needing some space to think, Saiki decided to put his likeability as a secondary concern. With regard to his publicized semblance, Saiki used telekinesis to simulate 'air' and send the huntress in front of him a few feet into the air.

Saiki clicked his tongue when his opponent flawlessly regained her composure even in mid-air and began the transformation of her sword into a rifle. _'Dammit, her actions are too instinctual, I can't get a read on it in time!'_

Unable to conjure an intense blaze quickly, Saiki sent as many flaming sparks using his left hand to block vision between himself and his opponent, treating his pyrokinesis like firecrackers. In rapid succession, Saiki jet water out of his right hand onto the ground and used the force to quickly backpedal as far as he could.

Suddenly, rather than the sword form or the rifle form, a javelin was thrown with enough force to disperse Saiki's petty flames but landed a few centimeters away from Saiki's current position. Without his hydrokinesis boost, it would've clipped him in the leg. _'Seriously?! A spear, too?!'_

The girl landed on the ground, but unaware of the puddle underneath, she lost her footing but not her ability to stand.

Saiki, rather than pushing his advantage, took a moment to glimpse at the favorability numbers of the crowd. _'70s? Damn, I let it raise too high!'_

Saiki didn't have to listen to the audience's thoughts or see Neo literally waltzing around her opponent to realize his mistake. Pyrrha wasn't the guy but the girl. Name linguistics was apparently not one of his strong suits.

' _Whoa, did the transfer kid just do that?!' 'Wait, Saiki?! When did you get that cool?!' 'Hmph. He should be fighting directly not running backwards.' 'I've seen Pyrrha beat veterans with the first few strikes, he's amazing to dodge that!' 'My leg! Stupid bench!' 'Wait, was that Dust? Or was it his semblance?' 'Was that a fluke?! It was so impressive!' 'That flexibility is insane! I would've broken my back from doing that!'_

' _Tch. I'm getting praised too much. I need to switch partners. Now. I can't win against the real Pyrrha without making myself a target.'_ Saiki eyed Neo a few meters behind where Pyrrha was standing. _'She didn't say anything. Of course she didn't. Now I need to find a way to get past Pyrrha without making myself even more reliable-looking than I already have.'_

Saiki tried to think of the dumbest stratagem for the situation. _'Well, if people believe I'm a long range type, I'll go with that. And do the opposite to make myself look dumb.'_

Saiki ran headlong towards Pyrrha, who recovered her iron stance, taking her by surprise. _'He's rushing me?! From what I can tell, his close range options are fire-based attacks or an unknown physical augment. But both are just stopped by accurate shield placement, he has to be planning something!'_

' _I am. And that caution is going to help me.'_ Saiki thought as he grabbed Pyrrha's ground-implanted spear.

' _My own weapon? But the time to turn the point around would take too long at the velocity he's coming at me. If he plans to use Miló as a staff, I'll have to resort to using my semblance to slightly knock off the trajectory.'_

' _No need.'_ Saiki stomped his foot hard into the ground two steps away from a distance Pyrrha's shield could reach. _'I'll do it for you.'_

And Saiki tripped.

The motion was exaggerated, and Saiki had to make the incoming face plant fairly audible. However, he still needed Pyrrha to step to the side rather than backwards, which is why he grabbed the spear.

With outstretched arms, Saiki used his momentum to awkwardly drop the Miló, sending it spinning and careening across the floor directly at Pyrrha's feet. Not one to be taken by surprise, Pyrrha dodged to the side.

' _As expected.'_ Saiki thought. THUD.

The sound echoed throughout the hall, and Saiki would've felt a grin coming on, knowing he didn't even need to confirm that favorability numbers were dropping. If he didn't need to 'win' this fight, Saiki would've pretended to pass out then and there.

But Saiki disliked owing anyone. Even and especially a psychotic annoyance.

An instant after his face hit the ground, Saiki pushed himself upwards with both arms. With an awkward imbalance, Saiki tumbled his forward leaning body straight past Pyrrha.

' _Did he do that on purpose to get to Jaune?'_ Pyrrha wondered, and Saiki noted it was on purpose but for a different reason. _'I won't let you go that easy!'_

' _Oh great. Of course she wouldn't. Do I still look off-balanced? Eh.'_ Saiki tripped again, causing his bodily frame to undercurrent Pyrrha's shield toss.

Not wasting the opportunity to make another face smashing noise, Saiki also told Neo. 「Change!」 THUD.

Pyrrha had expertly angled her Akoúo̱ shield toss so that if it had managed to miss Saiki, then it would've been sent towards Neo's current position.

As much as she hated to admit it to herself, without Saiki yelling out to change, Neo probably wouldn't have noticed as her line of sight was turned towards Jaune. As Saiki decided to get up with slower and more normal movements, Neo spun herself around Akoúo̱ and let it whirl towards Jaune. Still somewhat upset, Neo abided Saiki's request by leaping backwards directly at Saiki with a small amount of spite.

With Neo's current acceleration, Saiki's head would've collided with hers. Both parties knew why, if they collided, it would be hard to end the match with a win. If they weren't to collide, then Saiki had to properly react.

「Stop trying to make me…」 Saiki clenched his teeth in annoyance. Taking the slightly lesser of two evils, Saiki quickly crossed his arms in front of him. When Neo's back connected, Saiki pushed her upwards so she would fly above him. 「Look good!」

[Aww. Where's your manly pride? Is-]

"Pyrrha! Anti-air!"

Before she could finish her insult, Neo looked towards the yelling Jaune, who was knocked onto his ass after his shield had collided with Pyrrha's. However, Akoúo̱ had ricochet off at an angle where it would collide with Neo in the air.

Saiki inwardly chuckled.

Pyrrha was taken in surprise as well, she had planned the shield to ricochet off of Jaune and back towards her in the ensuing worst case scenario. Assuming Jaune held his shield at a weird angle to try and abuse her magnetism power, Pyrrha used her semblance inconspicuously to have the shield hit Neo's abdomen before leaping herself. She was surprised that Jaune could react fast enough to think about using her semblance although she had only decided to disclose it a few minutes before the match started.

Saiki was sure that was at least part of it. Even if minimally. The main reason was that Neo wasn't the only one with spite.

Although she hadn't known Pyrrha's semblance, Neo probably would've assumed the same either way. [Saiki! Screw-]

Knowing her talent would shine too obviously if she were to tumble in the air, Neo braced herself to receive the shield and grunted at impact. Losing her aerial balance for a moment, Neo flailed for a moment only regaining enough composure to land in a crouching position.

Backs facing each other from three meters away, Saiki commented, 「The girl's semblance is magnetism.」

[Bull. Even if it is, she couldn't have predicted the jump, and Mr. Knight is too incompetent to angle the shield that way.]

「Oh?」 Saiki responded. 「Aren't you underestimating professional huntsmen-in-training? Pyrrha is apparently a famous tournament fighter.」

[No!] Neo mentally shouted back. [I know you well enough that if you had liked me, or even were indifferent, that shield wouldn't have hit me.]

「And I know you well enough, that if it didn't you were going to try and land on my head.」

[…] Neo picked herself back up.

「…」 Saiki silently stood.

[I hate that I know you.」

-Ψ-

 **This would be the part where I get on my knees and ask for forgiveness, but that's assuming I'm the kind of person who would stop doing what he needed to apologize for. I have a whole number of excuses, and I'm sure at least a few are actually legit, but at the end of the day, I got lazy. Not uninterested, not bored, not burnt out, just always finding some dumb reason not to write all the words in my head and put 'em on a page. A web page in this case. Probably going to be a consistent thing.**

 **Can you even believe I thought about writing something in addition to this? Ah, what a misguided fool I still am.**

 **I hope that some of you were excited to see a new chapter. I know at least some of you were disappointed in the quality of this chapter versus the first couple. Or just in general. I know I'm disappointed in myself.**

 **As for why Saiki didn't see Weiss fighting the boar with his new power, it's because that event was a direct result of the team assignment. It's a small event that only grows Weiss's and Ruby's characters from that team assignment, and he suffered that consequence already. Weiss and Ruby haven't had their chance to develop yet, and when they do, that would cause the headache. It's when characters** _ **further**_ **diverge that create the headaches. Sure, there will be consequences from Saiki and co. messing with the canon teams. Headaches will start when thing** _ **happen**_ **or when something doesn't** _ **happen**_ **that's far too integral to the fundamental timeline. This time, the thing that didn't happen, was just not large enough.**

 **Another reason is that I just didn't write that fight scene at all, and the lecture, and not have Saiki literally unable to control anything afterwards. He can't affect it, Weiss is the leader, so she won't have that event no matter what. Writing it would validate its existence in the story but I wouldn't contribute anything. At least, with my level of writing and imagination.**

 **Anyways, I don't even know if I should even be commenting on some facet of writing when I'm not even that good of a writer, it really has just been personal opinions down here. Although, when it comes to writing, you gotta learn to write bullshit but write it well. I've only got the first part down if you can't tell… but maybe not even that.**

 **I guess I'll just comment on romance in writing. Or rather, I'll comment on my opinion on it so I don't set you all up for disappointment.**

 **I have no clue.**

 **Never dealt with love in the first place. Look at me, in college, but not even a crush or some inkling towards one of my female friends. Just know about it from all the things I as a consumer know. The pure and innocent love of some animations, the sexual kind in more perverse works that I can happily say that I have little experience in knowing, and the constant fan shipping of characters among others.**

 **I can't write a romance. I was skeptical even including Teruhashi's continued crush in this chapter, but it's one of her characteristics and I can't just kick it to the curb without good reason. Expect that when it is present, it's going to either be short, badly written, or just you as a reader seeing something that I didn't. Or some combination of the bunch. Sorry for that functional spoiler. Romance will still happen, but it'll probably be limited unless the readers actually sympathize with their motivations, I guess?**

 **It's just that I refuse to write something that feels fake. I don't want to have two characters look at each other, think they're both attractive, and in a few chapters, willing to die for one another, or even worse… giving a super meaningful speech that changes the other's perception of life. I don't know if it works like that in reality, but I don't want to write it. I'm sure that when I write banter between characters, there are some readers with love in mind thinking they're going to be in a relationship. I don't think banter is all that it takes for love or there wouldn't be a concept of a boy and a girl actually just being friends. I can at least attest that it can happen.**

 **But hey, I'll write banter, and I'll write encounters. If that leads to some ship or what not, I won't stop it. Don't expect me to endorse it, because if I do, I'm sure you'll be wondering why characters feel like they're going against their personalities.**

 **As for review responses, which are clearly more than a tad late… ahem:**

 **Guest on June 20** **th** **: Yeah… we can both see where that ended up.**

 **doaNUMBERS: Eventually I hope that it stops being 'mixed up from canon' and becomes 'its own storyline.' I get that it's sort of goes against the fact Saiki is trying to get it back to canon, but hey, it's boring to write a show and just put characters in between scenes or shove them in. Some people can do it really well, but I don't trust myself to. As for GSIC, yup, it gets views, you labeled a story with a character instead of 'OC.' No offense to White Sheep, I'm sure that since you found it easy enough after I mentioned it, it has to at least be well-written.**

 **Kurokono Tasuke: I feel so frikin' bad. The fandom really is small and apparently I'm one of the few writers that contribute to the fanfiction side? Oh man, if I'm one of the best we've got, that kinda makes me really sad. At least raqquo, despite the big 'I'm Inconsistent' tag on the tumblr page, can draw some good Saiki amongst others, and Incorrect Psi Nan makes a couple of funnies. Not to mention the fanslation community, thank Saiki that they're the great people they are. If I was better, I would try my hand at translation the PSIde Story Light Novels I had hanging around, but my Japanese is only high-school passing level. An English high school.**

 **Guest on September 19** **th** **: SUMIMASEN. SUMIMASEN. But hell, pressure's a good thing for some writers. I'm sure there are plenty of creators that would agree that if someone doesn't tell them to die for their works, they wouldn't do it as well or if at all. I fall into that category, and seeing your review pop up in my email all of a sudden, really helped kick myself into writing the rest of at least this chapter.**

 **TheKrister2: 'I-Is that a genuine, well-written,** _ **negative**_ **criticism? I-I shouldn't be so happy about that but I am.' Not going to lie, that was my thought process when I first read it. First, let me defend myself for what I can. The 'firm' relationships aren't necessarily set in stone. I'm sure that over time, relationship dynamics between friends can change fairly easily. It isn't fun reading two characters do the same things every time they meet after all. Sure, it leaves less wiggle room, but if I'm writing a story about more than Saiki, but the people around him, I need to show that they can at least stand on their own merit. Or else I messed up in not making it a solo journey.**

 **Other than that, trust me, criticisms always important. I never even thought about what you said while I was writing it, I was just thinking of a dumb joke for Kaidou getting his weapon for the first time and it having to be in front of Ruby. That was actually the basis to write the last two chapters. I apologize for the obvious disappointment. I do acknowledge that when I was writing it, it did feel a bit rushed, and some parts unneeded, but hey, it's out there and I feel weird revoking content. As for your pet peeves, I apologize but I'm glad you have them. I would feel bad not as a writer, but as a person, if everyone were to just have an unequivocally good opinion on what I write. And… thanks.**

 **Next time (LOL) on** _ **A Disastrous New World for Saiki Kusuo**_ **: Repercussions.**


	11. Chapter 11: Kicking and PSIcreaming

' _65 on average… Considering that I tripped so dramatically twice in a row, I'm surprised it's still that high.'_ Saiki thought, tracking the audience's favorability numbers. _'Goodwitch-sensei seems to be conflicted though, her number is fluctuating quickly.'_

' _He can handle himself well but yet the mistakes he makes are so… basic in nature. And there's this unshakable feeling that I get that he's not even trying…'_

' _Yeah, yeah. I get it. I get it. Annoying combat junkies.'_ Saiki complained. Moving his pupils over to the crowd under the shade of his glasses, Saiki sighed, _'And as for you two…'_

' _Wait… he handles himself better than I thought he would, and his instincts are good, is that his faunus traits amplifying his basic ability?'_ Weiss analyzed.

' _Wait, why is he doing so well?! And why is he working so well with… her?! I'm not just imagining things, right?! Is there something between those two?!'_ Teruhashi worried needlessly.

'… _Aren't teammates supposed to help each other?'_ Saiki cursed to himself. Glancing at Neo, he resigned, _'No, no I guess not.'_

「Go have your own solo fight already, you massive sadist.」 Saiki waved Neo off, not needing to turn around and face her.

[Hah! You say that like you aren't one yourself, letting the girl fight the tough one.] Neo taunted.

「And you say that like you were an actual girl.」

[Ah, I suppose that's true.] Neo sent a mental image of herself shrugging before leaping towards Pyrrha in reality.

' _Isn't that when you're supposed to deny that?'_ Saiki gave the straight man routine inwardly.

' _Oh, are we s-switching? O-ok I guess.'_ Jaune thought as he stared down Saiki, who was currently standing stock still. It was the closest thing he had to a combat stance either way.

' _Nervous even in thought, huh?'_ Saiki noticed. _'Well, I'll just have to let you hit me a few times. But I guess I need to get your aura levels low for Neo to instantly disqualify you, hm. Guess I'll have to get a test shot in.'_

Saiki created a small ice cube in his hand before nonchalantly throwing it at Jaune. However, considering he didn't want to take the guy's head off, the tiny ice cube went at a speed similar to a heavy water balloon.

Jaune put up his shield and blocked it.

' _Hm. I guess that wouldn't work. Helped lowered likability numbers for how awkward it was though, that's good. But I guess I do need to at least hit him. I'll have to be a little more careful with the next one.'_

Creating another piece of ice out of sight, this time the size of a baseball, Saiki tossed a torrent water in an upwards arc towards his opponent.

' _Oh! Uh, do I block it? It looks like water… no! It might be something worse!'_ Jaune fortified his shield to prevent the nonexistent chance of drowning.

' _No… it's just water. And this is just ice.'_ Saiki chucked the baseball-sized ice straight at Jaune's newly unprotected legs before clenching his teeth. _'Oops, I accounted for the size, shape, and aerodynamics but I forgot about the difference in mass.'_

As such, the ball of ice hurdled faster than Saiki intended before crushing itself against Jaune's left leg. From the sudden impact, Jaune fell face-first, veritably headbutting his shield to the ground.

' _Annoying non-combat junkie.'_ Saiki could hear the numbers ticking up. Letting Jaune pick himself back up, Saiki started walking forward. _'Maybe if I get closer he'll actually try to hit me.'_

Jaune rapidly assumed a combat stance, a fairly poor one although Saiki didn't know it. _'He's getting closer, what should I do?'_

' _Just hit me.'_ Saiki lazily lifted his arm to emulate a punching motion, adding a degree of awkwardness to the lack of haste in his attack.

' _I-Is he trying to punch me? Uh. What.'_ Jaune's brain was overloading from Saiki's nonsensical fighting.

"Saiki-san!"

Saiki slapped his raised arm at a ridiculous speed sending the person in front of him sprawling to the ground before taking a step back. It also looked like Saiki was out of his right mind, considering he swung at nothing.

Normal people couldn't see ghosts, after all.

"That's cruel, Saiki-san!" Toritsuka nestled his slapped cheek in his hand. "You should respect the dead!"

「When you move onto the next world, I will. Now hurry up and leave, this isn't your scene, not that you deserve any. The only reason the audience cares about your existence is because you're dead and nothing else.」

"What?! First, you won't help me peep. Then you try to stop my peeping. Then you take away my peeping! You sent me to the stratosphere so I couldn't enjoy more peeping now that I'm a ghost! Oh, and you sent to a world where I died!"

「…Considering you put your death as the last reason, I feel like even you think it isn't important.」

"Why don't you-" Toritsuka's visage was interrupted as Jaune charged through him, shield first.

Saiki's eyes barely widened, distracted by the conversation before rushing backwards from a blind rush from Jaune. After taking a few steps, Saiki decided he would let himself get hit, revealing how he knew he needed to doge but failed utterly despite the attack being a straight line.

That was the plan before Jaune threw his sword directly at Saiki's knee.

Saiki barely had enough time to react as he lifted his leg to avoid his knee being impaled. _'Wait, what?! He didn't even think about that! Does he have a power-up or something?!'_

Before any question could be answered, Jaune gripped his shield by both sides and sent it crashing downwards into Saiki. Normally, this maneuver would be a terrible decision, being too brash and forsaking subtlety and defense altogether for a low range attack. However, with Saiki off-balance from the sword throw, there was little room for counterattack. In addition, if the attack landed, Saiki would be grounded and easily taken out of the fight as Jaune would be in prime position to continue the assault especially if Saiki's leg would've been crushed into the sword underneath it.

Unsure if this would be the best decision, Saiki let himself fall backwards faster than the shield could hit him. As soon as he hit the ground, he shot water out of his hands and telekinetically pulled him clothes backwards to create the illusion that the water's propulsion sent him out of range.

' _Seriously? They're both this strong?! I thought this one was supposed to be easy to manipulate!'_ Saiki got himself onto his knees before Jaune was on top of him again.

With a quick kick, Jaune had dislodged his sword and rushed forward past his airborne sword. Passing by it, Jaune gripped the handle behind him to get a full swing on the grounded Saiki.

' _Great… how annoying. But this looks like a good attack to take to help get me out of this fight. I'll just have to use this aura thing around where he's about to hit, right?'_

Clenching his teeth, Saiki let the sword try to slice the area between his shoulder and neck. Without context, it would've looked similar to an executioner doing his job. Jaune's eyes even seemed to lose some of the color they once had as the swing was about to land.

 **TINK**.

' _Tink?'_ Everyone in the room thought, enamored by the fight between the guys rather than the girls for once. It was natural thought, it sounded like metal upon metal, similar to the sound a house key would make when thrown at a metal fence.

The spectacle only grew as Jaune's Crocea Mors was launched at an absurdly high angle and dug itself into the ceiling. No one knew it, but it was only a testament to the sword's constitution that it hadn't snapped like a twig from the force.

The rebound of the attack even set Jaune visibly bouncing backwards. Saiki narrowed his eyes as he saw Toritsuka's ghost, which had strangely disappeared during the fight, also bounce himself out of Jaune's body.

He would need to question that later. But now Saiki needed to figure out a course of action while everyone was too busy looking at his health bar to see whether or not a pixel was even missing from such a violent attack. Honestly, he should've seen that coming, when you need a jackhammer just for a message.

The obvious course of action was to just fake pain and just make it seem like an odd quirk compiled with an electronical glitch. However, with that came the necessity to constantly lower his aura after every single attack during future spars and fights, and if this incident didn't make it clear enough, Saiki didn't have much control of his aura, just like any of his other powers.

Another option would just leave it as is, allowing everyone to know the massive size of his aura. This was also clearly out, since there wasn't anything that made that power 'fair and balanced.' Being paraded as a prodigy did not seem very appealing.

The option he would've liked as also out: fake passing out, once again making people think some sort of glitch happened. But then a different hell on Earth… or Remnant, Dirt, whatever, would happen… an annoying Neo who did not get her favor.

And so came the compromise, one that seemed relatively safe, played into the faculty's understanding of the otherworlders, and let him keep fighting. The one where the biggest risk was simply forgetting about it.

Saiki didn't move. Rather, he refused to move. He decided thirty seconds or so should be fine. Even Neo and Pyrrha had paused their rather heated conflict to stare at the still Saiki when Jaune's sword had went flying earlier.

' _I can feel everyone's eyes on me. I hope they're smart enough to understand what's going on.'_

[Hey, you dumb shit. What are you doing?]

' _Case in point.'_ Saiki thought, continuing to not move a single muscle. 「I got hit. So I'm pretending that I can be completely immune to attacks for a short period but I can't move during it.」

[Oh. Like stasis?] Neo wondered, keeping one eye on Saiki and the other on her opponent, who had been doing the same.

「…Sure.」

[That's stupid. You just look like you're doing jack shit like you normally do but to a further degree. Why not add a golden sheen to your body? Or make yourself shoot lightning on a regular basis?]

「…How is that supposed to help.」Saiki replied, making sure not even to blink. Standing this still should basically be impossible, especially with how uncomfortable his crouching position looked. Considering he wasn't even showing the slightest flinch, people started to catch onto his idea but still treated it with disbelief. Goodwitch had been the first amongst those present to hypothesize what was happening but was still unsure.

In the meanwhile, Jaune had recovered himself from his attack before gawking at his arms in realization of what he just did, as well as what just transpired. Looking back at Saiki, Jaune nervously held his shield in front of him despite being unsure of what Saiki was doing. _'What's he doing…?'_

A few more seconds passed in silence. Jaune was still unwavering. _'Why's he's just standing there?'_

Well, if he doesn't get it, it seemed Saiki needed to ham up the next bit.

Suddenly, Saiki shifted and fell backwards onto the ground. He rapidly turned his head and patted his chest a couple of times before taking a moment to stare at his hands. His thoughts were far more composed than his actions would suggest but it seemed that most people bought the 'stasis' act. _'I'm going to admit, remembering that I need to fake this is going to be an annoying pain…'_

Glaring at the dizzy ghost of Toritsuka under the shade of his glasses, _'Also, we have another annoying pain right here. The repercussions eluded to in the last chapter was not supposed to be like this. Ugh.'_

Saiki could hear mumbles in the audience, utterly confused as to how Saiki's semblance must've been that stasis thing and that he was just using hidden dust before then. They would eventually be corrected, but Saiki certainly didn't need to do it now.

Well, now that everything was about as on track as they ever were going to be, Saiki needed to let Jaune get a clean hit, one where Saiki would need to personally drop his aura at the right time. Of course it was just one thing after another.

Before Toritsuka had interrupted, Saiki thought it would probably be a good idea to set himself apart as a ranged fighter then and there. Gave him an excuse to get taken out of a fight if people got close and importantly, people don't normally look at their own ranged support often. Melees would just end up as a bigger hassle.

And if he set himself apart now, people could charge at him whenever Saiki was forced to spar. Including Jaune. Right now. Because said Jaune was trying to circle around him, but seeing Saiki continue to stand still, he would just awkwardly shift in the other direction for the same result.

What is with that circular pacing anyway, what purpose does that even serve?

' _Whatever.'_ Saiki grumbled. Yes, he had a plan, but that was the long term. Short-term… this was probably going to make him look cool, particularly to a certain chuunibyou. _'Let's get this over with.'_

Saiki shifted his body sideway and held up his index finger like a finger gun. A dumb childish motion that everyone assumed it was some sort of taunt after Saiki took no damage, and Jaune's weapon was currently lodged in the roof.

And then Saiki shot a fireball out of his finger, and reeled his hand back like it had recoil from a gun. Jaune blocked it easily, only since he only had his shield at the moment, and permanently had it in front of him.

Saiki proceeded to rain hell upon Jaune in form of fireballs, ice crystals, small rocks that he kept in his sleeve specifically to keep up the earth part of the whole ordeal, and lightning. Saiki heard the excitement in the audience's thoughts as their childhood mimicry was brought to life.

Saiki twitched his eye. Jaune was literally letting him do this. Jaune just kept holding up his shield despite the fact that he could just charge forward at him. Had the thought not occurred to him yet?

Fine then, Saiki would just keep this up until Jaune's aura ran low and then Saiki would do a reckless charge that made it look like he wanted to wrap everything up. That would hopefully seem believable. Longer he kept up this finger gun act, the more 'cool' he might seem… rather, the audience seemed to be more focused on wincing at something happening with the girls.

Perhaps Saiki should just hold out both hands and become a temporary water pump until Jaune's aura reached that threshold.

'… _I'll kill you.'_

Saiki shot up both his hands and released an unparalleled torrent of water in front of him.

-Ψ-

[That's stupid. You just look like you're doing jack shit like you normally do but to a further degree. Why not add a golden sheen to your body? Or make yourself shoot lightning on a regular basis?] Neo taunted.

「…How is that supposed to help.」

Neo puffed out her cheek, unable to form a kind of reply, as she had already gone through almost all the insults she had ready and prepared after all of these years of silence. Sure, there had been a few left, but then the conversation wouldn't flow properly and then the insult wouldn't come off correctly. She was not going to compromise on her primary form of entertainment these days.

' _Well, fighting's still fun.'_ Neo shrugged.

Pyrrha had her focus split on both of her opponents, one of which was a statue and the other proving herself a competent adversary. Pyrrha knew Beacon was going to be different than her average tournament fight, but to have such an even match on the very first day of classes was not within her realm of expectations. From the initiation alone, she had figured that most of the people around her was going to need some proper training before they could even touch her.

But then Saiki was able to dodge the initial onslaught despite being caught off guard and his combat stance completely off. She wasn't sure if it was an accident that her spear had been thrown at her when he had tripped, but either way, he had good enough instincts that he could possibly survive a bout with her longer than more trained individual could have. Not to mention he was either smart enough to hide enough Dust on his person, or that level of elemental control

And his partner, well, it was quite clear why they were allowed to transfer in without the initiation. In only the minute since they switched sparring partners, Pyrrha had been parried three times, dodged seven times, and retaliated against for all ten attempts. She had been considered invincible for good reason, but Pyrrha had been dangerously close to being hurt for the latter half of the minute.

At this point, Pyrrha already understood that Neo was likely a fighter who abused her opponent's openings, an archetype that she had met before but not quite trained to this extent. She had to wonder who Neo's mentor was or just what she experienced to become like this, at least at the back of her mind. Sure, with her experience, Pyrrha could adapt her strategy to either wider attack ranges to limit retaliation, or to simply move better than her, but that same experience told her Neo was adapting perhaps even quicker than she was.

Honestly, she had been glad when Saiki brought an awkward tension. Pyrrha could feel her heart beating against her chest… a feeling she had lost quite a while ago.

Neo knew of Pyrrha's invincibility, but she hadn't quite expected to hold up in practice. From Saiki's mention, she had actually felt her blade being pulled in directions which were not the assassin's intention. Without his notice, Neo probably wouldn't have quite figured it so quickly. Saiki didn't lie about that part, but she did need to get him back later anyway.

Honestly, Neo was wondering whether or not to win. Sure, with her semblance, it would be fairly easy to get a few opportunities to finish an unaware Pyrrha, but revealing her power would close so many future possibilities. At this point, she realized that losing a close match wasn't quite that bad of an option.

But screw Saiki and his correct opinions.

At the moment Saiki began moving again, the two charged at one another. Pyrrha had been taken aback for a split second at Neo's first initiation, but she had already figured that Neo had at least a few offensive maneuvers in her repertoire.

However, blades didn't clash. Neo may have been primarily relying on her sword until then, but a little sleight of hand was never under her.

Lacy pink fabric suddenly expanded as Pyrrha attempted a simple downward strike. Without any warning, just as the blade should've cut through the fabric, the umbrella was pushed forward, Neo sacrificing a small portion of her aura to completely negate the attack.

The odd parry worked as intended, and Neo was quick to sweep at Pyrrha's legs, assuming she would be off balanced. However, Pyrrha decided to borrow a certain maneuver before the attack could reach.

And she tripped.

Tripping is always an awkward motion, difficult for the opponent to track since it wouldn't normally factor into an average fight, and it honestly shouldn't be used as an actual skill since the unpredictability worked both ways and the danger of leaving yourself completely open was often never worth it.

In this instance, however, Neo didn't have the time to capitalize on the purposeful fall, and Pyrrha was quicker on the literal draw, blasting Neo with a point-blank rifle shot.

Of course, despite the speed, the sloppy motion was easy to block, Neo opening her umbrella to take the full brunt of the shot. But Pyrrha had never meant for it to hit, as the recoil from the rifle shot sent her flying backwards. Ignoring the slight drain on her aura as she skid across the ground, Pyrrha rolled backwards with the momentum and placed herself in a crouched position to continue raining bullets.

In the background, it could be heard that she wasn't the only one raining artillery on their opponent. _'Jaune might need my help, and it would be trouble to have a two-against-one, even an uncoordinated one.'_

Neo's umbrella could take bullets fairly efficiently, only requiring a small portion of her aura to tank through attacks, but it was aura nonetheless. Pyrrha caught onto it, and took the opportunity to chip away at it as much as she could with the time she had before Neo would counter.

That time wasn't long.

The top half of the umbrella was suddenly launched at Pyrrha, the residue aura taking the last bullet Pyrrha shot. Hastily switching to her javelin mode, Pyrrha used the back end of her lance to topple the makeshift projectile behind her while positioning herself to slam down the pointy end onto a charging opponent.

Only to find no one.

Even without her illusions, Neo understood the art of line of sight. The umbrella certainly was launched, but that didn't change the fact that she was right behind it. As her lacy projectile was deflected, Neo flipped alongside it to get a clean shot at Pyrrha's blind spot. A precise maneuver that was completely impossible for a majority of even trained fighters, and was meant as one of Neo's many trumps.

Trump cards were not invincible. Pyrrha didn't plan for it, but her decision to topple with her javelin versus striking away with her sword was more correct than she planned. The motion left the javelin perpendicular to the floor and parallel with her body.

Rather than confusion, instincts drove Pyrrha into action as she slapped the back end of her spear further forward so the sharp end was facing in the direction of her blind spot.

Neo was once again unable to react in mid-air as the javelin shaved past her right leg, dangerously close to a more sensitive area.

Adrenaline rushing through her, Pyrrha slammed her javelin down in front of her as soon as she felt something connect. The audience winced, feeling the pain of being thrown down head first, with a spear between your legs.

Even so, Neo's aura hadn't dropped into the red, but it was dangerously close. Pyrrha was ready to apologize, realizing the severity of her attack but her tongue was stopped as Neo popped from the crack in the stage.

'… _I'll kill you.'_ The murderous intent was palpable, but Pyrrha's spine hadn't even begun to shiver when it was cut off.

Before Neo could fully stand, something slammed into her from behind, and destroyed the remaining amount of her aura. A something with pink hair's back had made impact with her own back and pushed her back into the stage.

Saiki had crashed into Neo from behind and were both knocked out o the fight.

The ensuing silence, only holding a few grunts from a literally washed-up fighter, was broken as Goodwitch broke out of her own stupor and announced, "Jaune Arc, Kusuo Saiki, and Neopolitan Sunday have had their auras drop into the red and are unable to fight further. The winners of this match are Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc."

It looked absurd. Saiki apparently got annoyed and used both hands to finish Jaune with water but the recoil was too much and he was launched with uncanny accuracy at his partner. No one had even felt any sense of murderous intent until Neo began picking herself up once Saiki got up himself.

[Where do you get off?! You fuc-] Neo's murderous intent once again dissipated as she met an intensely hateful glare from Saiki.

「You lost the right to say anything.」

From an outsider's perspective, it looked like Saiki was apologizing via mere eye contact. For the three still standing on the stage, it was anything but.

' _He looks so angry! But shouldn't it be the other way around… unless he knew?'_ Pyrrha's gaze was Saiki's cue to dissipate his hate as Goodwitch began approaching the arena.

"First, before I delve into anything else, I would like to congratulate these four as the first participants in battle for your time here at Beacon." Goodwitch announced, lightly clapping in an effort to rouse the crowd into doing the same.

The effort was not wasted, the students getting the hint and clapping themselves. Some, including Kaidou even decided to give a standing ovation.

"But!" Goodwitch silenced the room nearly instantly, using her semblance to fix the holes in the stage and retrieve Jaune's weapon from the ceiling. "While I admit the caliber of the fight was beyond my initial expectations, there are a few things I must nonetheless comment upon."

"Pyrrha Nikos." Glynda started with the one furthest away from her position on stage, hoping to allow Jaune enough time to recover to get in line himself. "Firstly, I will commend you for having no glaring issues in your fighting prowess within the realm of this spar. However, it was apparent that your time as a tournament fighter has pit you against far more tactical fighters and you are far too easily caught off guard by the unpredictable. You adapt well, but while fighting the Grimm, that tiny bit of hesitation could lead to tragedy."

Pyrrha bowed in respect as Goodwitch finished off her point. "Neopolitan Sunday. I am glad that you were able to show the class exactly why you were permitted to enter Beacon through other means. Your combat ability was impeccable… at least against human opponents. Relying on counters like you have been doing may work a majority of the time, but you can be overrun even at your most careful. Additionally, you seem to quite enjoy playing with your opponents, if your initial bout with Mr. Arc was to show. Please refrain from such behaviors in the future, and you may perhaps win."

Neo puffed out the cheek opposite of Goodwitch's point of view in annoyance. "Kusuo Saiki."

' _Oh joy.'_ Saiki deadpanned. _'Pyrrha is already boring holes in the back of my skull, now everyone gets their shot.'_

"While I understand you have not been traditionally trained for combat like the rest of the students, you left your guard open for the entirety of the fight after the initial clash… and it seems we will need to work on your sense of balance, even if it was a help in what is presumably, this one case. Additionally, you should work on paying attention to your own teammates as to not hinder them. Otherwise, you seem to have good instincts but you will need to polish up on personal tactics and define your own style of fighting."

'… _I don't think I'm going to be the one responsible for that at this point.'_ Saiki could hear a constant babble from Weiss's thoughts, coming up and scratching off tactics and formations to use with Saiki. At the least, in most of them, Saiki was not the vanguard.

"Jaune Arc." Goodwitch came to the final fighter, drenched but finally in line. "While you surprised me with the occasional quick thinking and defensive capability, I will be honest that your current level of fighting leaves much that needs to be explored. You fail to create strategies that require only yourself as the component, and you do not seem to grasp when the correct time to actually initiate offense is. Relying purely on defense, without even thinking of a counterattack, will only lead to your own defeat.

A quiet "Yes, ma'am" was uttered as Goodwitch looked down the four participants of the showmatch.

' _They did much better than I expected. I can only hope the rest of this year's class is as promising.'_ Goodwitch thought. "You four are dismissed. There is still enough time for two more timed matches. Firstly, are there any volunteers?"

Saiki proceeded to storm off the stage, swiped at the air, and entered into the locker room. It was slightly questionable, swiping at nothing and he had never changed or anything beforehand, so most had wrote it off as him simply getting tired and wanting a deserved break.

-Ψ-

「Seriously, give me a break. You're already dead, how can you still be such a pest? 」 Saiki was very tempted to throw Toritsuka into the locker, only to realize he would probably just phase through it. Instead, the esper opted to simply throw him forward with enough force to spin him around a few times.

After the spinning stopped, but not fully recovered, Toritsuka clutched at his head and complained, "It's not like I know what happened either, Saiki-san! I was talking to you one moment, then my head started hurting really badly and now I'm here! Shouldn't you treat me nicer?! People should respect the dead!"

「Only if the person demanded at least a minuscule amount of respect in life. Otherwise, they just end up dying and no one cares.」

"People care about me! I'm on the news and everything!"

「People don't care that you died, it's how you died.」 Saiki pinched at the space between his eyebrows in irritation. 「A couple of people might come in here, just hurry up and tell me what happened when you went into the blonde person.」

"I-I went into him...?" Toritsuka tilted his head in confusion and held his chin in his palm. "Oh, that's what happened, huh? Huh? Huh?!"

「What are you doing?」 Saiki asked with clenched teeth. The people he was forced to fight or the next combatants may come in any moment and he did not want to be seen to be talking 'to himself.'

"That means I possessed him… but only spirit mediums should be able to get possessed at all! Unless, because I'm a ghost of a spirit medium, the inverse becomes possible! Or maybe the superpowers in this world work in the same way! Either way, Saiki-san, BANZAI!"

Toritsuka tried to get Saiki to throw his hands into the air as well, only to get sorely denied and he proceeded to do it on his own. Several times.

"If I get used to this, so I don't get overwhelmed like I did just now, I can totally possess people! Banzai! Specifically, girls! BANZAI!"

Suddenly the ecstasy was halted as Saiki grabbed Toritsuka by his ghostly uniform's collar and carried him so they were out of view of the locker room's entrance. 「I can't get you to stop yourself. I doubt that any threat I give you, no matter how much I would be willing to follow up on it, would not deter you from your own idiocy.」

「But I will warn you now. If your nonsense creates attention, or you try and possess any of the people on my team, you will regret the very fact that being a ghost makes you invisible to the world.」 Saiki felt like his death glare was getting used excessively today.

Slightly perturbed, Toritsuka nonetheless managed to spout with envy, "A-Are you building your own harem, you bastard! Why not help me with it before if you're doing it now, dammit!"

Saiki's right eye twitched. Toritsuka, despite his stupidity, shut up after seeing the complete disgust that was on Saiki's face. 「They already draw enough attention as it is, they don't need any damn more to make my life even more miserable.」

'… _Speak of the devil.'_

[Whatcha doing, weirdo?] Neo asked, perched on top of one of the nearby lockers.

「Toritsuka can possess people now.」

[Huh? Who? Tori…] Neo's eyes went wide before being replaced with a very similar look of disgust. [That's just creepy. I have a favor. Make sure he doesn't every _try_ shit with me.]

「I'm doing it for more than just you.」 Saiki resumed glaring at a nervous Toritsuka. The spirit medium was getting a very bad feeling.

[Great. Another favor, then. Can you punch the everloving shit out of him?] Neo asked with a sweet smile.

「While I haven't said Toritsuka did anything, I'll try one better.」 Saiki dropped Toritsuka's collar, the latter psychic sighing in relief as Saiki tapped Neo on the shoulder when she dropped down from the top of the lockers. 「Try it yourself.」

[This gonna work?] Neo asked, only to get a shrug in response. Unsure, Neo gave a light jab towards Toritsuka.

Contact. Silence. Smile.

And Toritsuka thought that Saiki's evil smile was terrifying. However, this made him even paler than a ghost. Because he's already a ghost.

-Ψ-

「Now that you've had your fun…」 Saiki said, sitting back down in the auditorium for the rest of the matches. For now, Neo and Saiki were sitting apart from Teruhashi and Weiss since Saiki simply didn't want to deal with them right now. 「We need to have a talk.」

Neo's previous smile of sadistic glee grew uneasy as their gazes from the corner of their eyes met. […Fine. I can guess what this is about.]

「You were going to kill her.」

[Pfft. I was just thinking about it. And you went against your favor so does that-]

「Don't pull that.」 Saiki's invasive thought left a tone that silenced Neo's protest. 「I've been psychic for a really long time. I know when feelings and thoughts are real. And _that,_ that was real. Even if you couldn't actually kill her, you were going to damn well try.」

[Are you doubting I can?] Neo asked, offended. Catching another package of instinctual threats, Neo backed off. [Right, not the point.]

「I get that you want to stand on top of people. I want you to get that _I don't care_. I'm being forced to go along with your plans, so you aren't going to jeopardize mine. We are here to blend in. Your _whims_ don't matter.」

[Blegh. You're sounding like that Cinder bitch now.] Neo blanched. Saiki let that one pass as Neo had thought that on instinct. [Right, right. I get it. I'll play nice.]

「You don't need to play nice. You need to play normal. It's harder than it looks.」

[Not to mention, incredibly boring.] Neo rolled her eyes.

「…」

「By the way, considering I saved your reputation, you lose a favor.」

[Wha-!] Neo flinched at the tonal shift. Any sense of dread or urgency left the air as she retorted, [Like hell! I didn't ask for your help! No count!]

「…That's not how favors work.」

[That's how my favors work.]

「You mean, dysfunctional? Not surprising, considering the source.」

[Meh, functional's overrated. I'm keeping that favor.]

「Hm. I object-」

"I hereby declare Kaidou is no longer able to continue!" Goodwitch claimed. Interrupting Saiki's thought process. It had only been two hits into the match, but with how Kaidou's aura worked, that's all that was needed.

Going against a bigger opponent, their name not having been caught, was already a handicap, but when Kaidou did the incredibly obvious teleportation strategy of going behind the guy, Kaidou's opponent responded with a heavy right hook. The audience winced as Kaidou's aura bar dropped to almost zero from the single hit.

And then proceeded to refill back to a hundred percent, quick enough before the aura could even hit its bottom. Apparently Kaidou's aura had an odd quirk of being incredibly tiny, but it never actually goes away no matter how much it's destroyed. Due to this quirk, Goodwitch decided Kaidou's losses would be determined entirely based off of his own endurance, playing to the advantage of such a quirk.

Unfortunately, with Kaidou's physique, as well as absolutely no training with the aura itself, Kaidou was knocked completely out by the next hit.

For the second time that day, Kaidou was draped over Kuboyasu's shoulder like a sweaty towel.

-Ψ-

「It's just one after the other, isn't it?」 Saiki commented as he took another spoonful of soup into his mouth.

[Do you think they're being discreet? Does that make them idiots or delusional?] Neo asked with a spoon of ice cream in her own mouth.

Across the dining table were the other two members of team WNKK, each with their own very easily read expression. Psychic powers were just unnecessary.

' _How do I bring this up? Do I just ask outright? I need their opinions on how the team should work, but they haven't said a single word. I need to know whether or not their teamwork was a fluke as well…'_ Weiss contemplated while silently eating her seared chicken. Her face was oozing with irritation for the two people on their team who actually fought to say something as well as discomfort as she didn't know how to breach the subject.

Teruhashi was far less subtle. Her face was red, her hair was frazzled but still somehow perfect, and she was fidgeting in her seat as she ate her yellowtail. _'How do they know each other? How do they know each other? How do they know each other? I want to know. I need to know. What's going on with those two? Is there something going on with those two?!'_

Finally done with the day, the four of them gathered for dinner in Beacon's cafeteria. Although they were sat in a fairly secluded table away from both the edges and the center of the room, the group had garnered more than enough gazes. Saiki felt it would've happened either way, but with what happened, he was sure at least quite a few more had been added to the probable count.

It also didn't help that the group had been dead silent since entering. It seemed that the 'cool beauty' archetype was beginning to build up. Up until this moment, Weiss and Teruhashi's focus had only been broken once from their thoughts.

While the other three had partaken in far more balanced meal options, Neo's plate was almost entirely comprised of sweets. Neo relished in the gazes of envy for her figure from her fellow female teammates.

A few minutes had passed since then, leading to where they were now. The tension seemed to start getting to the two members that weren't used to the silence.

"So how-" These words were all Weiss could speak before deciding to cut herself off.

"How do you two know each other?!" Teruhashi's voice almost came out as a screech as she leaned forwards far enough to get up. Catching herself, she sat back down in embarrassment at any attracted looks and whispered an apology to Weiss. "Sorry, you can go first."

Weiss waved her off, although not without a slight hint of ire building up. "No, no. It's something I was wondering as well."

Saiki sighed as he felt his three teammates look at him, one of which only doing so since she didn't feel like explaining through text. Resigning himself to the expository position, Saiki replied, "We've known each other for what amounts to a day. Not much else."

Neo, uncaring about the conversation, began playing with a piece of cake by repeatedly stabbing it.

"But you two came to Beacon together, and there was a moment that you two worked together without saying anything, and you two look comfortable with one another…" Teruhashi rattled off a few points.

Before she could continue, Saiki and Neo synchronized their hand waving motion of denial.

"Like that!" Teruhashi pointed at their shared antic. The two of them stopped their hands and met each other's gazes of exasperation.

"No." Saiki voice his denial. "I can say without a doubt that we could care less about one another. If it was a choice between hate and love, it would definitely be hate."

Weiss and Teruhashi flinched at Saiki's complete lack of tact, and looked towards Neo to find their restraint unfounded. Neo, with an arrogant smirk on her face, nodded in agreement.

"If we work 'together,' it's more likely that we're trying to bother one another if at anything." Saiki explained, a slight tone of exhaustion behind his words.

Neo, grin slightly growing at that statement, nodded once more.

"We got stuck with one another, and neither of us are happy about it. Well, I'm sure she's happy when I'm not."

Neo nodded even more vigorously without any remorse for Saiki, with that incessant smile still on her face.

"And as you can see, her only character trait is being a nuisance." Saiki finished, serving a hand towards Neo to emphasize the blame.

Neo did not fall for the comedic gag and shook her head. She tried to slap the side of Saiki's head only to find her efforts thwarted as he deftly dodged the attack.

While Teruhashi was still annoyed at how synchronized the two of them were at that moment, she did feel somewhat better. Weiss, on the other hand, had her own grievances. _'Does being a leader really involve this much babysitting? First its love, now its hate, and they're both on this annoying faunus!'_

' _Pot meet kettle. And please figure out that even if they're abnormal, that they are hair pins… Is anyone going to correct her on this or do I actually need to set apart time to take off a control device when no one's paying attention?'_

Weiss sighed, closed her eyes, and held back her face using her fingers. "Would you two please get along? It doesn't have to be friendship but we're a team for our remainder of time at Beacon."

Saiki mimicked Weiss's motion of exhaustion. "I know."

Neo's smirk returned as chewed on another cookie. [And I know, too.]

"Moving aside, I'd like to go ov-" Weiss was forced to cut herself off again.

"Saiki! What the heck was that?! That was so cool! When did you learn how to do that?! It looked just like that scene from That Particular Technical Launcher!" Kaidou suddenly blinked into existence besides Saiki and launched his own barrage in the form of dialogue. Kaidou shook around Saiki by his shoulder, but his weak strength just made it look like Saiki was vibrating in place.

' _Oh yay. Kaidou's conscious again.'_ Saiki's sarcasm bled past his thoughts as his expression became more annoyed.

"Oh hey there, what's up, Team Ice?!"

Saiki saw someone with annoyingly bright blonde hair walk up alongside Kuboyasu and a younger-looking girl with red highlights in her air. There was also the person that got away with wearing a damn hair accessory! Why does she get to be called human when she's actually a faunus?! Why does the world treat the faunus so unfairly?! And not in that bothersome racist sense!

Weiss recognized the group from their particularly showy version of being late and knew that she didn't want anything to do with them. It would probably be a wasted desire, however. She knew that there was a pre-established group of friends that got split up between the two teams. If Toritsuka had survived, then Weiss would probably have been forced to interact with another team on top of that. "It's not Team Ice. It's Team WNKK."

' _Actually, isn't that even more embarrassing to say?'_ Weiss thought to herself. Saiki agreed with that opinion.

"Huh?! Nah, don't worry about it! You guys are definitely Team Ice!" Yang quickly dismissed the truth of the matter. It didn't help that her voice was loud enough that other people could hear.

"I mean, come on." Yang shrugged before pointing at Weiss. "Ice Queen."

"Hey!" Weiss protested.

"Ice Cream." Yang went on to point at Neo.

Neo didn't know this person. Neo already hated this person. Neo decided that she would hurt this person given the chance.

「It's not like that's inappropriate.」 Saiki commented.

[Shut it. Your opinions never matter!] Neo threw her arms up in the air with ire, and people assumed it was an immediate response to Yang's nickname.

Yang pointed towards a flinching Teruhashi with a lecherous grin on her face. "Ice Melt."

Teruhashi blushed at such a direct comment. It wasn't like she hadn't been given such comments before, but the fact it was so publicly announced and the source was female left her stunned for a moment. "Wait, wait! There are so many other people that are definitely beautiful than me! Like you, for one!"

' _Although that's a lie.'_ Teruhashi admitted inwardly. However, she could tell her humble denial had gotten her even more support from those currently in the cafeteria. Saiki seriously questioned whether or not Teruhashi had her own likeability meter psychic power.

Yang, in response, stopped at her rapid-fire nicknames and blushed at the sudden comment. Yang scratched the back of her head nervously. "Yeah… that's totally right… right…"

' _I'm bigger. I'm bigger. I'm bigger.'_ Yang chanted religiously in her head to regain her sense of self-worse.

'… _Honestly, I'm having difficulty deciding who the bigger person here is.'_ Saiki noted as Teruhashi unknowingly beamed at what was the rare sight of an uncomfortable Yang.

Coughing into her fist, Yang restarted as her index finger was raised towards Saiki. "Anyways. Finally, Ice Shooter."

'… _That better not turn into a dirty joke later.'_ Saiki vainly hoped as Yang was already preparing in her mind situations to do just that.

First impressions were always important. It they weren't, then Team WNKK wouldn't have been sure that they all decided to hate Yang.

Turning to Neo and Saiki's end of the table, Yang introduced herself. "Name's Yang, by the way. That's Ruby. Blake. I think you already know Kubo."

' _Ugh. Guess it's better than Club.'_ Kuboyasu rolled his eyes at either shortening of his name.

Ruby, eyeing Neo's plate, poked Yang for her attention. "Yang~, food~!"

"Oh, right. We'll be right back!" Yang announced before running off towards the food stuffs with Ruby in tow. Kaidou and Kuboyasu reluctantly followed, prioritizing her stomachs.

"Um… Why are you still here?" Weiss asked the remaining Blake, who had instead sat beside the heiress.

"I'm apparently here to make sure you don't 'escape.'" Blake held up her fingers to motion air quotes around the last word.

"…Can't we just leave anyways?" Weiss asked the newcomer, who had already buried her face in a book, already turned to its bookmark.

"Yeah. Go ahead." Blake deadpanned as she turned a page. The ensuing awkward mood made it really difficult to leave.

Saiki then decided to get up and leave, even with the astonishment of his teammates. At least until his walking momentum was stopped as Neo lunged at him and pulled at the hem of his jacket, falling down and spreading herself across the seat bench. [You're not getting away that easily!]

「You could just leave yourself…」 Saiki trailed off as his eyes landed on Neo's plate, still holding half of its content. He understood everything. Sweets were not to be abandoned. At least his own. 「That doesn't mean I have to be here.」

Neo looked up at Saiki with a clearly sadistic smile. [What could possibly mean~? Just come and stay awhile.]

Saiki brushed off her hands quickly and tried to escape.

"Saiki, can't we talk a little more~?" Teruhashi pleaded in the background. Saiki stopped in his tracks, although not entirely voluntary. _'He stopped! He does care about me!'_

' _No. It's that I care about the numerous murderous gazes pointed in my direction. Actually, this might be a decent way of lowering my likeability count.'_ Saiki thought as he continued his stride.

Blake realized she was in a warzone of devastation and destruction and decided to try and hide herself in her book to drown herself in a fictional warzone of devastation and destruction. Weiss gagged at how any chance of her own escape was ruined as well.

…

Saiki put away his tray before walking back into hell, where they were waiting with open arms and subdued tears.

-Ψ-

 **No apologies for something that is basically par for the course at this point. I will admit that I got into a bunch of different shows, not limited to anime at this point which certainly didn't help anything. One of which is Fate, and that's just a bottomless hole if I've ever seen one.**

 **There's always been this weird feeling that I have that there's a lot of people that write for RWBY to basically have a roster of primarily female characters just for male characters to show up in a crossover and outdo them. …Actually wait, aren't I doing the same thing? I can't just hide behind the excuse that Saiki is genuinely OP and that the entire purpose is for him not to be seen as it but it's basically the same isn't it?**

 **Sigh. Guess that's another thing about writing for RWBY, all the actual characters can so easily fit into archetype molds and it can be difficult to show that they're not just that, and I'm not sure if I'm up to such a mounting task.**

 **Honestly, thinking about it, Neo may be a bundle of headcanons that are probably accepted well enough that her personality will develop similarly if and when she makes another appearance. But to write her as much as I have, she is virtually an OC, created in a similar way to the GSIC that I talked about two chapters ago. Eh, whatever, I'm having fun with it.**

 **Alright, review responses…**

 **sassymelon: Don't expect it so often.**

 **adv: I'll try my best to keep making them fun.**

 **SnapDragon21: Ah, right. The self-deprecation bit. Sorry about that. Does saying sorry defeat the purpose? People I know in real life have gotten used to that facet of my personality, but it doesn't do much to help how annoyed they probably are with it. Also, the repercussions weren't exactly as advertised, huh? And I get that it's been two months, but no, this was one of the points I came up with early in the drafting if you want to believe that.**

 **TheKrister2: I reply to everyone, I do these the day the chapter comes out. So eh. Plotholes are going to be evident at some point, no matter how much I've been keeping track so apology in advance whenever it shows up… unless it already did and I didn't notice. Oh and I did do that interlude interruption there on purpose, I personally thought it would've been a nice break but guess not.**

 **Cliffhangers are cliffhangers, but honestly, they just happen because I feel like ending chapters before the word count gets past a certain average. Yup, revoking content sucks, completely agree. And I didn't really think it sounded that negative.**

 **pltgrst: …. .**

 **darkpit65: … .**


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